The Fox
by frostykitten
Summary: "Bloody - Granger! What in the hell are you doing hiding in shrubberies?" "I knew I was going to catch you eventually. You're about to go steal something, aren't you?" Despite his repeated denials, Hermione knows that Draco's the Fox, an international art thief, and she's determined to catch him.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**A/N: Hello readers! This was supposed to be a story doodle, a oneshot. Obviously I have a problem with that, since it's approaching 20 000 words and not quite finished. I'm thinking it's going to be five chapters. I wanted to write something really fluffy and this is the result. Enjoy!**

**As always, thanks so much to Irianaceleste for betaing!**

**~Frosty**

Draco had no idea the trouble that was waiting for him when he returned home that night. Sure, he'd made a habit of drinking more than most would perhaps consider healthy, and he chose to associate with a less than savory crowd, but he didn't see any problem with his behaviour.

His father disagreed. Vehemently.

"You're a disgrace," Lucius greeted him as soon as Draco stumbled out of the fireplace. The Floo network was bad enough sober, but when the room was already spinning, it was downright hell. If Draco was in hell, that made his father Lucifer, coldly observing and enjoying the suffering he saw.

Lucius looked twice as disapproving as usual, a problem Draco remedied by closing one of his eyes. Ah, that was better. Two of his father was two Lucius Malfoys too many.

"What part of my life is disgraceful this time?" Draco asked. His words didn't slur at all, a talent of Draco's. No matter how drunk he was, his words came out perfectly clear. It was his sluggish thinking and lack of filters that were the problem.

"Your continued association with the Zabini boy is unacceptable. He's a criminal."

Draco looked pointedly at the magical monitoring anklet that would alert the Aurors if Lucius stepped off of the Manor property.

The Ministry had been willing to pardon Draco for his involvement in Voldemort's reign of terror since he was a minor and there were extenuating circumstances, but Lucius hadn't been so lucky. He was under house arrest for the next two decades, and this was after the hefty fines (read: _bribes) _he'd paid.

"Don't give me that look, boy. Zabini's a common thief."

They'd had this conversation before. Blaise wasn't a "common thief," he was an art thief. Magical artifacts were as protected as Muggle ones, with the added difficulty of the subjects of the portraits objecting to being stolen. The trick, Blaise had told him, was to sneak up on the painting and silence and bind the subject within the frame before it had a chance to run elsewhere. It actually took a high degree of skill and a little luck, but this wasn't something that Lucius was willing to hear. Draco was just supposed to end his friendship with Blaise, no questions asked.

Knowing that this was going to take a while, Draco wove his way over to a chair and collapsed into it.

"I never liked that boy," Lucius continued. "His mother is no good and neither is he. I'm not sure he's even a Pureblood what with all the husbands his mother had. She preferred money over good breeding, one of them was even a Muggleborn."

Draco had heard all of this before. Alcohol improved many things, but it definitely didn't make a lecture from his father any better. While Lucius went on about Blaise's questionable heritage, Draco tried opening both of his eyes and then immediately closed one again, this time the right eye instead of the left.

"Are you listening to me?" Lucius accompanied the question with his best condescending look, but Draco was immune to it. He'd been subjected to that expression since before he could remember. In fact, it was strange when Lucius wasn't wearing that expression.

"Not really." Draco stood, taking a minute to wait for the room to settle before making his way towards his bedroom.

Even drunk he understood that his father was going to make him pay, but he couldn't seem to force himself to care.

* * *

Draco woke up to a pounding headache and a tongue mysteriously replaced with sandpaper. He vaguely recalled something about his father from the night before, but it was lost under a deluge of blurry memories. Something about Blaise. Blaise...

Was sitting on the edge of his bed watching him.

"I've talked to you about how bloody creepy it is when you break into my bedroom and watch me sleep."

Grinning, Blaise patted Draco's jaw then jumped out of striking distance. "Don't worry your pretty little head. You're not my type."

"Not my point."

Blaise handed him a glass of water and a hangover potion, so the creepy moment was forgiven. Having learned way back at Hogwarts that yelling wasn't going to stop the strange behaviour, Draco attributed it to a strange upbringing and just accepted his friend's eccentricities.

"What are you doing here?" he asked once he had somewhat recovered from his hangover. Even magic was incapable of completely curing the evils of alcohol consumption.

"I thought it only fitting that your rest be disturbed since mine was so rudely interrupted due to your stupidity."

"What'd I do?" Draco grumbled, still not fully awake.

"My guess would be that you stumbled home drunk and said something offensive to your father."

"It's possible. I vaguely recall a lecture. I think he was forbidding me to associate with you. Just his usual reasons, you're a common criminal, your parentage is questionable, etcetera."

"Did it occur to you that perhaps it was a bad idea to anger one of the few people who know that I'm the Fox?"

"Of course it occurred to me – not at the time, since I was more concerned with keeping down my liquor, but it has occurred to me. He wouldn't risk turning you in. I know too many family secrets for Father to feel comfortable trying to manipulate me like he does with normal people. Why are you asking?"

Blaise seated himself beside the small table that the House Elves used in the morning to serve Draco's breakfast. His mother required proper clothing and insisted that breakfast be served at seven on the dot if he was going to eat in the formal dining room with his parents. In his room though, Draco ate whenever he wanted wearing nothing if he so chose. Plus there was the added bonus that his parents weren't there.

Blaise pulled the bell cover off of the plate and started to pick through the fruit salad.

"I'm asking," he said once he'd meticulously selected a melon chunk and popped it into his mouth, "Because I woke up to Hermione Granger knocking on my door demanding to know if I had any information on the Fox. Apparently, she'd received a tip from a reliable source that I knew something."

Rubbing a hand through his hair, Draco sat up. "What did you tell her?"

Blaise, the sadistic bastard, didn't answer until Draco hauled himself out of bed and took the other chair at the small table. He snatched some of his breakfast from his friend and waited while Blaise finished the fruit salad. Once the food was gone and Blaise felt like he'd made him wait long enough, he would answer.

"Now, before I answer, remember that I have plans to be in Italy this week for that rare painting I've been coveting and can't afford the delays that Granger and her investigation would bring."

This wasn't good. Blaise only prefaced things when he'd done something really horrible. In fourth year, Blaise had accidentally lit Draco's potions essay on fire and didn't tell Draco about it until only an hour before it was due. He's used a similar preface back then. It hadn't made Draco any less furious then and he really doubted anything had changed.

"What did you do?" Draco was only in his boxers, so he didn't have a wand on him. It was probably a good thing that the temptation wasn't within reach.

Leaning back, Blaise folded his arms behind his head. The gesture looked relaxed, but Draco knew that Blaise was putting as much distance between then as possible without getting out of his seat.

"Granger wasn't going to leave me alone until I gave her something, so I told her that you're the Fox." He was up and out of his chair before Draco could launch himself over the table.

The perimeter alarm bells rang throughout the house, signifying a guest at the front gate.

"That would be her," Blaise said, looking out the window. "You may want to put on some pants."

Draco did try to lunge for his friend this time, but Blaise anticipated the move and was already out the door, headed for the nearest fireplace.

With a dark glare in the direction Blaise had disappeared, Draco went to hunt for some clothing.

* * *

"What is the Mudblood doing here?" Lucius hissed to Draco. Narcissa was serving the former Gryffindor tea in one of the formal sitting rooms while Draco and Lucius peeked around the doorway, trying to be inconspicuous.

"You sent her after Blaise in what I can only assume to be some clumsy attempt to keep me from being friends with him. It seems you forgot that Blaise can take care of himself. He told Granger that I'm the Fox and went on his way. Now she's our problem."

Lucius' eyes narrowed before he turned and stormed off down the corridor. It was as close as he would ever get to admitting that he'd been outmaneuvered.

"Draco's not a thief," Narcissa gasped, drawing Draco's attention back inside the sitting room.

Ever since the war, his mother had lived in this strange fantasy world of hers where he and his father could do no wrong. As far as Narcissa was concerned, Draco and Lucius spent their time volunteering in soup kitchens and healing injured children. She became quite distressed whenever someone implied that her son and husband were anything less than angelic.

"Mother, I think Father needs you." Draco stepped around the doorframe and strode into the room as if he hadn't been lurking just outside for some time.

When Narcissa reached him, he leaned down to whisper, "He's sulking in his office because he didn't get his way again."

Narcissa chuckled affectionately. It was half true, Lucius was almost certainly sulking about his failed sabotage attempt, and he would pretend that his sulking had a perfectly innocent root when Narcissa came to cheer him up. He may be rotten to the core, but Lucius didn't like upsetting his wife.

"Excuse me, Miss Granger," Narcissa said, going in search of her husband.

"Whatever you're here for, you leave my mother out of it," Draco snapped as soon as Narcissa was out of hearing range. "She's done nothing wrong and isn't well."

For once, Granger's intelligence worked to his advantage and she understood immediately. He was sure that she had noticed the distant look Narcissa had in her eyes and the slight dreamy quality to her speech.

"I'll do everything I can to keep your mother out of this."

He strode into the room, putting on his usual mantle of cocky confidence to hide his residual hangover. Granger was like a shark, liable to strike if she sensed any weakness.

"So what brings you so far from your comfort zone, Granger?" he asked, nodding towards her legs as she crossed and then re-crossed them nervously to show that he'd noticed.

She frowned at him and forced herself to stay still. It was only then that Draco realized the significance of this particular sitting room. Shit. He'd meant to be a prick, not mock her over the torture his aunt had put her through within these very walls.

He was fighting his sluggish brain, trying to think of something to say when she spoke instead.

"I've acquired a warrant to search your vault." Her voice was crisp. She was clearly much more comfortable talking about her work than exchanging pleasantries.

Draco raised his eyebrows. Despite their involvement in the war, the Malfoy family still had high standing in the magical community. Centuries of tradition didn't go down the toilet so easily. For the Minister to give permission for his vault to be searched so quickly, he must have been certain the Granger would catch the Fox, and he must want the capture to happen as soon as possible.

"I can see you're wondering how I obtained the warrant so quickly," Granger said. She wasn't gloating; she just couldn't resist sharing information when she knew something that others didn't. "One of the paintings you stole was of the Minister's great-great grandmother done by an old master."

"As I recall, the woman was hideous. Really, whoever took the thing was doing the man a service."

Her eyebrows rose. "Are you admitting guilt?"

No, he was implicating himself so that Blaise would have time to initiate his heist uninterrupted by nosey Aurors. He owed his friend that much for the trouble his father had caused.

"I was doing no such thing. Let me see that warrant."

Granger watched him closely as he carefully read over the fine print. She had permission to go through his Gringott's vault, just as she'd claimed.

"Let's get this over with, then," Draco said. He didn't miss the almost imperceptible flash of disappointment that flickered over Granger's face. It was clear that she'd hoped he'd show more reluctance.

* * *

The goblins were their usual hospitable selves. Draco was sure that the one who escorted him and Granger into one of the little carts to take them into the bowels of the bank was extra unpleasant. He suspected that this was due to a lasting grudge the goblins had towards Granger for breaking out of the bank. Agreed.

Draco, not finding it necessary to be a gentleman considering Granger was there to invade his privacy, took the seat at the back of the cart, farthest away from the surly goblin and leaving her to sit between them. Despite the uncomfortable position, she still looked more in her element in the cart than she had in the Manor's sitting room.

Several times along the ride, Draco's knees bumped against Granger, but she seemed determined to ignore him.

They waited off to the side as the goblin opened the vault. Granger's eyes widened slightly at the sight of everything inside the large space. In addition to the small fortune that was his by right as the Malfoy heir, Draco had received a number of heirlooms upon the death of his aunt. The woman was crazy, but she'd seen something she liked in Draco and left him a good portion of her own fortune, something that was awarded to him upon her death in Azkaban.

"Search away, Granger," he said with a wide sweep of his arm. "As you can see, the only artwork in here are Black family heirlooms, something I didn't have to steal."

Her eyes narrowed at him. Draco liked to think she was annoyed because she knew that he was right. Despite the evidence to the contrary, Granger seemed sure that Draco was the art thief and insisted on going through the entire contents of his vault.

"This can't be everything," she said when she'd finished her search over an hour later. "You have more than one vault, don't you?" It was really more of an accusation than a question.

He did. His parents had a number of vaults on varying security levels of the bank. The most secure, on the very bottom level, weren't even in their name.

"I read the warrant, Granger. You have permission to search any vaults in my name and the Manor. I'm not letting you invade my privacy further."

"If you're hiding something, Malfoy, I'm going to find it." Chin up, she stormed past him and climbed back into the cart.

For the first time that day, Draco grinned. Frustrating Granger was rapidly becoming one of his very favourite things. Maybe he would even thank his father for sending her his way. He'd forgotten how much fun Granger could be once she got good and riled.

Draco made a mental note to make sure he didn't go too far though. He had a feeling she wouldn't settle for just slapping him like she had in their third year. This older, more experienced Granger would probably hex him within an inch of his life if she snapped.

* * *

As entertaining as Granger was, she was best in moderation.

Really, Draco should have known better than to just give her free reign over the search. If there was anything he had learned while in school with her, it was that she was nothing if not thorough.

Draco stood back and watched as she emptied out the cupboards in the kitchen. The House Elves had tried to fight her off until Draco ordered them to allow the search, earning himself a nasty glare from Miss liberate-the-elves-whether-they-liked-it-or-not.

He perched himself on the counter, well out of her reach just in case she tried to vent her frustration and lash out at him.

"Do you really think I have stolen artwork stashed in the cupboards?"

She turned briefly to glare at him over her shoulder before going back to her rifling.

"It's almost dinnertime. Are you going to be finished in the near future? I'm sure the elves are anxious to start the meal." He looked towards the elves, where they were huddled in the corner of the room, watching Granger with big, frightened eyes. They were probably terrified that she was going to try and free them.

It was the wrong thing to say. Granger, already frustrated with him and her fruitless search reached the end of her tether. She grabbed a handful of flour while his attention was on the elves and threw it at him.

Draco's only indication that something was not as it should be was the widened eyes of the elves. He whipped around just in time to catch the flour with his face.

There was the briefest moment where Draco considered his options. He could retaliate, something that would probably quickly degrade to a food fight, or he could make her feel childish and come across as the bigger person.

He chose the option that wouldn't bring his parents running, disapproval at the ready.

"This is hardly professional behaviour." He took out his wand, pretending he didn't notice the way she flinched and reached for her own before realizing that he was only cleaning the flour from his face.

Draco had the pleasure of watching her blush. It wasn't one of those shy, darkening of cheeks that some girls managed. Granger's entire face and neck turned a bright, blotchy red that was somehow more interesting than anything he'd seen in a while. It softened her eyes and made her seem less proper.

"I'm sorry, Malfoy. You're right, that was incredibly unprofessional of me."

Her pained expression made the apology that much more pleasurable for Draco. He knew he made the right choice in withholding his retaliation.

"Are you finished with the kitchen now, or would you like to check the ovens?"

Defeated, Granger nodded. Over the course of the day, she'd turned the entire first floor upside down in an effort to find the stolen artwork. She'd been more thorough than the Aurors had after the war when they'd been trying to find any dangerous dark artifacts that the Dark Lord may have hidden somewhere in the Manor.

"I'm done here for today, but I'll be back tomorrow bright and early. Don't think you can move anything either. I'll know if you try to transfer anything from your home or your bank vault."

Draco waved her off, complexly uninterested in her threats. He wasn't the art thief and didn't have anything to worry about. Of course, his lack of concern seemed to disconcert Granger, who probably expected him to be shaking in his boots.

Smiling just to unnerve her further, Draco walked her to the door to see her out and then went to find his father.

Lucius was still in his study, thankfully without Narcissa.

After knocking once, Draco entered without waiting for an invitation.

Lucius was seated in the cushy leather chair behind a desk built to dominate a room and intimidate visitors. Ten years ago, visiting his father in the study was one of the most terrifying things in the world to Draco. He'd since dealt with Voldemort and a hoard of Death Eaters living in the house with him. Lucius, especially this cowed and sulky version of his father, was no longer the imposing figure he had once been.

He was no longer consumed with terror to be facing down his father over the mammoth desk, but he definitely didn't feel welcome, a feeling helped along by Lucius' glare.

"Is that horrible woman gone?" Lucius asked.

"For the moment. She's coming back tomorrow to do the upper floors. If you have anything you don't want her to find, I suggest you conceal it before she returns."

Lucius drew himself up and looked down his nose at Draco, something he had done on numerous occasions when Draco was a child. Like the study, the look's effect on him was lessened to almost nothing. "This is your fault. If you didn't spend so much of your time associating with –"

"None of this is my fault. You sent Granger after Blaise and he retaliated. What were you expecting to accomplish? You know Blaise is too careful to be caught with anything."

"I wanted an existing record of his name tied with the Fox so that, in the future, he's the one they go to first. Eventually he'll slip and get caught."

"Where does that leave me now?" Draco demanded. "Granger thinks I'm the Fox and is determined to stop me from breaking the law. It's my name tied with the case, and I know enough about Blaise's work that I could be convicted if they ask the proper questions while I'm under Veritaserum."

"I still have contacts at the Ministry," Lucius conceded after a long pause. "I'll see what I can do to make this go away."

* * *

Draco woke to a strange knocking sound. Thinking it was Blaise there to once more wake him with unpleasant news, he threw a pillow towards the sound and buried his head.

When the sound didn't stop, he opened his eyes, only to discover that his bed wasn't where it was supposed to be. It was hovering several feet off of the ground. On top of this, his room looked like it had been hit by a tropical storm, with his clothing and possessions scattered across the floor.

Draco crawled to the edge and peeked under his bed. Granger was there on her hands and knees, tapping at the wood, presumably in search of a hiding spot.

He flopped back down, wondering how long she'd been in there while he slept. A while, judging from the mess she'd managed to make.

For a few moments, he lay there, coming to terms with the fact that Granger had torn apart his room while he slept. Once he was done indulging himself, he rolled from the bed and landed on his feet with a grace that was completely missed by Granger, who was entirely absorbed in her tapping.

"Who let you in here?" he asked, despite already knowing the answer.

Granger looked at him, startled. When she saw that he was only wearing his sleep pants she looked away quickly, but not before he saw her blush.

"Your mother did." She hesitated and deliberately looked him in the eye. "Malfoy, she doesn't remember my visit yesterday."

"We all carry our war wounds differently," he dismissed. His mother's mental stability was the last thing he wanted to discuss with Granger.

Granger had never known when to close her mouth in the classroom, but unlike her idiot friends, she did possess some tact. She kept silent and went back to her knocking while Draco poked through the clothes scattered across his floor in search of a shirt. As much fun as it was to make Granger squirm, he had a feeling she'd be more efficient if she wasn't distracted.

"I'm going to brush my teeth, Granger. Would you like to search the bathroom now or risk me hiding the store of priceless artifacts I keep in the toilet tank?"

"Very funny, Malfoy."

It was good that Granger hadn't taken him up on his offer. Now that Draco was thinking about it, he was pretty sure Blaise had hidden a priceless statue, shrunken down to hand-sized, in the tank of his toilet. Draco's resolve to strangle his friend for siccing Granger on him doubled.

He brushed his teeth, hid the statue in his pocket, and then went back out to face the Gryffindor in his bedroom.

Since she had already seen him shirtless and sleep-rumpled, Draco saw no rush in getting dressed for Granger. He ambled over to the breakfast waiting for him, thankful that it seemed to be the one thing in the room that Granger hadn't touched.

Scrambled eggs, toast, fruit salad, and sausages were waiting for him under the bell cover. He glanced up just in time to see Granger staring covetously at his food. When she caught him looking, she quickly looked away again.

Draco rolled his eyes and kicked out the chair opposite him at the small table.

"Come on then." As always, there was a spare plate underneath Draco's since Blaise so frequently stole large portions of his breakfast. "The elves always double my breakfast since Blaise is always popping over and stealing mine before I wake up." She still hesitated. "I'm not going to beg you to steal my food, Granger. Either get over here or stop making those starving puppy eyes."

Her hesitation was brief, but her hunger eventually won. Granger watched him suspiciously as she approached. Resisting the temptation to roll his eyes, Draco ignored her and pushed half his breakfast onto the spare plate.

She sat down, nudging her chair a little farther away from him. When she started to poke at her food distrustfully, Draco couldn't keep silent any longer.

"Don't flatter yourself, Granger. You're not worth the effort of some elaborate poisoning scheme. If I wanted you gone, I'd be more straightforward about it."

"Is that a threat against an Auror?" Despite her question, she actually seemed reassured by his response and started eating her food with enthusiasm.

"Merely a statement of fact."

He tried to enjoy the rest of his breakfast, but it was difficult with Granger staring at him. How she managed to eat without ever glancing towards her plate, he wasn't sure. It must have been a skill developed after years of reading while trying to nourish herself.

"Spit it out," he finally snapped. Granger looked bewildered for a moment, obviously thinking he meant the bite of sausage she'd just taken. "Not the food, whatever's making you stare. Spit it out so I can enjoy my meal."

She chewed as slowly as possible, contemplating him the entire time and then swallowing. "You've complained about Aurors and the Ministry invading your privacy, you've even called me a know-it-all and a Gryffindor, but not once have you so much as referenced the fact that I'm Muggleborn."

"Is _that _all? I only ever bought into those beliefs to please my father. In case you haven't noticed, I couldn't care less what he thinks. In fact, I consciously set out to anger him with worrying frequency. One might even say that I didn't get to challenge his authority as a teenager and am doing it now."

Wonderful, his little monologue had stunned her speechless. While she was mulling over the new information, Granger looked away from him, leaving Draco to enjoy the remains of his breakfast in peace.

"Were you so eager to get here before I had a chance to hide the artwork that you rushed over here without eating anything?" Draco made sure his voice was appropriately scornful even though his feelings were leaning closer to amusement.

"If you're stealing priceless artwork from all over the world, I'm going to catch you, Malfoy."

"If I'd actually stolen said artwork, I might be concerned."

They went back to eating in silence.

"Are you satisfied that I have nothing hidden under my bed, or should I make myself comfortable here?" Draco asked when they were both finished.

His answer was a glare.

* * *

"Malfoy?" Granger asked him hours later as she rifled through the library. This room was taking longer than all the rest, not only because it was one of the largest in the house, but because Granger kept getting sidetracked by books she wanted to read. The starving puppy look was back, this time directed at books.

"What?" Draco was lounging in a chair and reading by the fire. He hadn't seen the point of getting dressed when all he was going to do was lounge around the house all day, so he was still wearing his pyjamas.

"Why did you share your breakfast with me even though I've been nothing but unpleasant to you?" She blurted the words out so quickly that Draco knew it had been weighing on her mind for a while. He hid his amused expression and pretended to be irritated with her for interrupting his boring book.

"You're annoying enough on a normal day. I can only imagine how much worse you'd be when you're hungry and irritable."

She frowned at him and then went back to patting around the fireplace, presumably in search of a catch to a secret passageway. It was unfortunate for her that she didn't think to poke around inside said fireplace. The fire gave off enough heat to be uncomfortable, but wouldn't burn if one put their hand in the fire, something one needed to do if they wanted to find the latch for the secret passage. Draco didn't share this information. It was much more fun to watch her try to outsmart generations of Malfoy cunning.

Even on the off chance that she found the well-hidden latch, Draco doubted that Granger would be very interested in his mother's secret shrine to the Weird Sisters. There was nothing illegal in there, but it was a closely guarded secret all the same. The Malfoy name had suffered enough, it didn't need that shame added on to everything else.

"You really don't have to accompany me the entire time," Granger said once she'd poked at almost every part of the fireplace.

Draco didn't look up from his book. "I'm not leaving you to wander around the house unattended, I've seen the trouble unsupervised Gryffindors can get into and don't want that unleashed in my home. If you want to sit down and read, stop trying to get rid of me and just join me. You can search the rest of the house tomorrow."

"You just don't want me to search the rest of the house," she said with a longing look at the pile of books she'd set aside while searching the shelves. "I can't sit down and read on the job."

He let her deliberate for a while, watching her out of the corners of his eyes as he pretended to read. Granger was reduced to chewing her lip and repeated glances towards the one empty chair in front of the fire. It really was entertaining to watch her wants battle with her sense of propriety.

Ten minutes later she was curled up in the armchair with a book. "Not a word," she said to Draco when she saw that he was watching her and fighting to hide his amusement.

"Of course not."

"I'm only doing this because I'm almost positive that there's nothing incriminating in the Manor."

"Obviously."

"I'm going to be back tomorrow and go over the rest of the rooms with a fine tooth comb."

"I wouldn't expect any less."

"You're going to slip up eventually and-"

"Granger?"

"What?"

"I can't believe I have to say this; shut up and read your book."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**A/N: Hello readers, happy Monday! Just kidding. I know Mondays are the devil. New chapter though!**

**For those of you who haven't read my notes elsewhere, I'm participating in a charity event in which fanfiction authors donate short stories and then readers donate $10 to the cause to access these stories. You can find the website by googling Fandom for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society or I believe there's a link in my profile.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed and to irianaceleste for betaing!**

**~Frosty**

Concerned that Granger would bully her way past the House Elves and wake his parents up with a levitating bed, Draco made sure to be up and dressed well before the time Granger usually appeared. If she startled Lucius when he slept, there was a good chance he'd put her in the hospital.

When Draco was the one who opened the door, he detected the briefest flash of disappointment from Granger.

"Hoping to catch me without a shirt again?" he asked with a smirk.

Granger tried to keep her face neutral, but there was the slightest flicker in her eyes that told the real story. She wasn't as skilled at hiding behind her Auror facade as she thought.

"Not everyone thinks you're as attractive as you clearly do, Malfoy."

"You do though."

"I'm not going to dignify that with a response."

"Which is actually more telling than anything else you could have said."

Pushing past him, she stormed towards the stairs. "There're only a few rooms left. I'd like to finish this search today."

Draco followed after her. "That's not true. You want to finish the search as quickly as possible so you can spend the rest of the day finishing that pile of books you left beside your chair in the library."

She didn't respond, which was all the answer he needed.

"Admit it, Granger, you find me attractive," Draco said later as he watched her sort through what had once been his nursery. All that remained were piles of boxed toys and his baby albums. He'd had to jump up and snatch one of said baby albums right from her hands as she'd been on the verge of opening it. Draco knew from the blue duck on the cover that this particular album housed a picture of him, naked and proud of it, completely covered in blond hair after getting into his mother's hair growth formula. He'd looked like a pudgy, male Rapunzel.

His comment was as much to distract her from going back to the box of baby albums as it was to taunt her.

"I do not. You're okay to look at, but then you open your mouth and ruin the effect. Now be quiet so I can finish searching this room."

"A little eager to finish those books, are you?"

"What did I say about being quiet?"

"No idea, I wasn't listening." He had to duck to avoid a teddy bear that she threw at his head.

This time it was lunch he ate with Granger. When she wasn't worried that he had poisoned her or lecturing him about House Elf slavery, she was actually a pleasant companion.

"Why are you looking at me like that, Malfoy?"

"I was under the impression that Aurors worked in pairs. I'm wondering why you're here on your own. If I so chose, I could have harmed you." It had been weighing on his mind for a while. Granger had the bad habit of becoming completely absorbed in her task. While her focus was a good thing, it was also dangerous in her line of work.

She shifted in her chair and poked at her food. "I've had a few partners, but I get a little too involved in my work. They usually request reassignment after a few months."

Draco read between the lines and took that to mean her swotty personality was too much for most Aurors to handle on a daily basis.

"Are you worried about my safety, Malfoy?" She was teasing, not realizing that she'd hit the nail right on the head. For some strange reason, Draco found himself enjoying her company and worrying that her job was putting her in danger with no one to ensure that she didn't end up chopped up and buried in some Pureblood's wine cellar.

"Of course not. I was just wondering how the Ministry let one of their Aurors repeatedly put herself in unnecessary danger." She was shifting uncomfortably again. Draco's eyebrows rose. "Unless they don't know that you're doing this alone?"

"I have an agreement with someone in the office. He signs off on my paperwork so that the Ministry thinks someone else is with me if I don't interfere on his cases. It's really best for everyone."

He stared at her for a beat, his eyebrows furrowed. "Do you really believe that? Because I was under the impression that you were an intelligent individual. Clearly I was mistaken."

Granger was bristling, probably ready to give him a piece of her mind, when his mother appeared in the doorway. Since it was lunch they were eating and not breakfast, they were taking their meal in the dining room. Draco had been under the impression that his parents had already eaten.

"Did you want something to eat, Mother?"

Frowning at Granger, Narcissa shook her head. "Where do I know her from, Draco?"

"This is Hermione Granger. I went to school with her. She's also been here the last few days searching the house because she thinks I'm an international art thief."

"That's just silly. If Draco was going to steal art, he wouldn't hide it in the house."

Granger perked up and studied his mother. "Where would he hide it, Mrs. Malfoy?"

Even forgetful and confused, his mother knew better than to implicate her child in front of an Auror. "I haven't put any thought into it, honestly. Draco's not an art thief. He is, however, smart enough to know that his home is one of the first places the Ministry's going to look. Those people use any excuse to tear through our personal property."

"That's enough, mother," Draco said, knowing that she was starting to lose track of who she was talking to and just rambling. She had been known to occasionally divulge things she shouldn't when she forgot her audience.

Startled, Narcissa nodded and left the room again. "I hope you find the person you're looking for, Miss Granger."

"Where would the work be hiding if not your home or your bank vault?" Granger asked as soon as his mother was out of hearing.

"Criminal or not, no one's going to share that information with you."

* * *

Granger had a way of reading that was fascinating to watch. She'd bite her lip when she read something particularly interesting, and her fingers would twitch like she wanted to take notes. Even years out of school, she was still that eager little student she'd been at eleven.

"Stop staring at me, Malfoy," she said without looking up from the page.

"I can't help it. I'm waiting for you to admit that you wished I'd been shirtless this morning."

"If I recall correctly, I told you that you ruin it by opening your mouth."

She still wasn't looking up from her book. Draco didn't like that aged parchment was so much more interesting than him, particularly since he'd read that book before and knew it was as dry as a mouthful of sawdust.

He frowned for a second before standing and stripping off his shirt. When he sat down again, Granger was staring at him. Ah, that was better.

"Now who's staring, Granger?"

"That's what I was talking about. You ruined the image by opening your mouth."

He stood again, strode over to her and then snatched the book. "Right, stand up."

"Malfoy, give me that book back. I was in the middle of a very interesting paragraph on the-"

"I've read the book, I'll tell you the ending. Now stand up."

Granger rolled her eyes and looked annoyed with him, but she grudgingly did as he asked.

"There. I'm stand- mmmph."

Draco found that there was something he liked even more than watching Granger read or making her angry. Kissing her was officially his new favourite thing. He half expected to be slapped, but something better happened. Granger made a little grunt of surprise and then kissed him back, pressing herself as close to him as possible.

This lasted for all of a second before she realized what was happened and pulled away from him, almost stumbling in her eagerness to escape him. Draco had been prepared to jump back, but he wasn't fast enough to escape the hand the collided with his cheek.

He put some distance between them, working his jaw back and forth as he tried to realign it. Surely she had broken or at least dislocated something with the strength of her slap.

Even with a cheek that felt like it was on fire and a possibly dislocated jaw, Draco couldn't stifle his grin. Not only had he immensely enjoyed kissing her, but he got the added pleasure of knowing that it was going to bother her for a very long time.

"What was that?" she demanded, her voice screechy.

"I was proving that opening my mouth didn't ruin my shirtless image."

"If you touch me again, I'm charging you with assaulting an Auror. You'll be in Azkaban before you recover from whatever hex I deem appropriate."

"Fair enough," he agreed while thinking that it may just be worth the risk to get to kiss her once more.

Granger made a show of primly straightening her clothing and hair. She took out her wand and held it in her hand, a blatant threat. "Am I permitted to finish the book now?"

He handed it to her wordlessly. Granger tried to be unaffected, but he noticed that her hands were shaking when she turned pages.

She finished the book without saying a word to him.

Draco saw her to the door, a little annoyed with the way she was avoiding his eyes.

"It's been... interesting, Granger. Let's not turn my home inside-out again."

Finally, she looked up at him. "Don't think that you've been cleared just because I didn't find anything in your house. I'm still going to drop in for periodic searches."

"Of course. I'll make sure the elves don't re-shelve the rest of that pile of books you chose."

Her cheeks darkened. "That wasn't what I meant!"

"I know. You're going to be keeping an eye on me, and I'm shaking in my little criminal boots."

He shut the door before she had truly absorbed that remark. No sense leaving himself open for hexes and making it easy on her.

* * *

Magical criminals were tracked through the Ministry if they registered for an international Portkey. Floo travel was more difficult to monitor but still traceable. The one method the Ministry always seemed to overlook was Muggle airplane.

Draco had to admit that his first experience with Muggle air travel had not been a pleasant one, but once he'd grasped that he had to specify that he was first class, things suddenly became more bearable. Apparently he had been wrong in assuming that Muggles would hear his last name and know he demanded only the best, as happened in the magical world.

Once he landed in Italy, Draco ambled out of the airport, hid between two parked cars, and Disapparated.

"Were you followed?" Blaise asked as soon as he opened the door of his Muggle hotel room. It was the same thing he asked Draco every time he visited him during a job, which was frequently. Even the best thief in the world couldn't do everything on his own, he needed a team. Draco didn't advertise it, but he was quite skilled at breaking through protection enchantments. He was better than Blaise, even.

"May the Aurors descend on me if I was so careless," he answered as he always did.

Blaise grinned and stepped back so Draco could enter. "From what I've heard, you wouldn't mind one Auror in particular descending upon you."

Rolling his eyes, Draco ignored his friend and moved to the blueprints and papers scattered across the small table inside the room. Blaise had called him because the magical museum he'd been scouting was proving to be fortified in ways he hadn't anticipated.

"You've been spending an awful lot of time with Granger," Blaise tried again.

"Through no fault of my own." Draco cast a pointed look at his friend.

Blaise looked closer at his friend's face. "You're not nearly as upset about having your privacy invaded as you should be."

"I may have enjoyed the invasion more than I would have thought."

"Granger's changed since school?"

"I'm not sure she has changed much. I'm a different person than I was back then."

"Thank Merlin for that. You were a right prick at Hogwarts."

"And you haven't changed at all. You were stealing things even then."

"Hey, when my mum was between husbands, she was never interested in giving her poor son spending money. She was always too focused on finding the next contributor to her personal fortune."

Draco waved off the sob story, having heard it before. While his mother was a real piece of work, Blaise somehow managed to turn out decent enough, slight kleptomaniac tendencies aside.

"Is this your planned entry point?" Draco asked, jabbing a finger towards the blueprint. He knew very little about the heist. Blaise only let him in on the plans if he was needed. That way, Draco could claim ignorance in the event that Blaise was ever caught.

They dropped the teasing as they focused on their planning.

Draco was on a plane back home before anyone even noticed that a priceless statue had been removed from what was thought to be one of the most secure museums on Europe.

* * *

He was swimming lengths in the pool behind the Manor when he looked up to find that he wasn't alone.

"Do you purposely time your visits for when I'm half naked, or is that just a happy coincidence for you?"

For the briefest of moments, he thought about having a word with his mother about letting Granger in the house to snoop around, but then the chance of Granger surprising him in various states of dress would decrease dramatically. Besides, his mother would most likely forget the talk pretty quickly.

Granger was not amused. "Malfoy, a priceless, nearly solid gold statue was taken from a museum in Italy. There were no traces left behind, and the complex and unbreakable charms around the statue were completely useless in alerting anyone to the theft. Employees only discovered the theft when they reported in for work in the morning and it was gone."

More than once Draco had warned Blaise that they could just replace the statue with a transfigured replica and no one would know the difference for a while. But Draco was just there for assistance, not to tell his friend how to do his work.

Draco had broken the spells and left to catch his plane, leaving Blaise to finish the job. While he could advise, the end decision for the robbery was left up to Blaise. Unfortunately, Blaise had a flair for the dramatic and an apparent burning desire to be caught.

"What does this have to do with me?"

"I know you're the one stealing these things."

Draco rolled onto his back and looked up at her, giving her his very best charming smile. "Granger, I don't even know to which things you're referring. Why would I resort to thievery when I have enough money to buy almost anything I could want?"

"I don't know, boredom? It has to be tedious to always just lounge around your parents' house day after day."

He raised his eyebrows. "You really didn't do much research before storming the place, do you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm disappointed in you, Granger." He shook his head exaggeratedly, watching how annoyed she was becoming. While she was busy staring at him in confusion, he climbed out of the pool, enjoying the way something so simple made Granger so clearly uncomfortable. She was back to averting her eyes and trying not to blush in his presence.

"Tell you what," he said, purposely condescending. "You look into that and then get back to me. Now, I'm assuming you're here to make unreasonable demands about searching the property." He wrapped his towel around his waist and gestured towards the Manor. "Shall we get on with that, then?"

Granger followed after him and cast a few revealing spells in various places around the house, but she didn't do a job as thorough as she'd done in the past. This time she knew that he wouldn't be careless enough to leave anything where she could find it. Mostly the trip was just to show that she was on to him, or at least that's what Draco assumed.

"You're hiding something, Malfoy, and I'm going to find out what it is," she said as he once more showed her to the door.

"These vaguely threatening goodbyes are starting to get old."

She put her hands on her hips. "I could take you in for questioning if you want. That would completely eliminate the necessity of a goodbye."

"If you had enough evidence to take me in for a proper questioning, you would have done it by now. I bet you barely had enough conjecture and feeble evidence to get that warrant of yours. In fact, if my family hadn't been Malfoys with a record of lawbreaking, I doubt you would've been able to get the warrant at all."

"Why is it that you know so much about the law, Malfoy? Are you thinking that you're going to need to defend yourself at some point?"

"No. I've just found that it's best for a person to know their rights, especially after the Ministry tried to take away my personal fortune for my actions in the war after already deciding that I wasn't to be held responsible for said actions."

"What are you talking about?"

Once again, he shook his head in exaggerated disappointment. "That's something else you're going to have to look into, Granger."

* * *

Draco and Blaise were eating breakfast in Draco's room early the next morning when Granger came busting in.

"You have a job," she said, looking like the world as she knew it had been turned on its head. "How did I not know you've been working as a photographer at the Prophet since you graduated from Hogwarts?"

It was then that she noticed Blaise was there as well. He was barely containing his laughter.

"Zabini," she said with an uncomfortable nod of greeting. "I, um, see that you two are busy. I'll come back at a better time."

"Sit down, Granger," Draco said with a roll of his eyes and a snap of his fingers that had a House Elf popping into the room. Without having to be told, the elf conjured another chair and popped back to the kitchen for another plate and more breakfast.

Granger obviously disapproved of the use of House Elves, but she was too polite to refuse the breakfast invitation. Frowning, she took the offered seat.

"Now, back to where we were before," Blaise said. "I think we were expressing our disbelief over Draco's employment. Personally, I thought the lazy sod was going to live off of his inheritance forever, but he insists on taking those little pictures of his."

"As I recall," Draco snapped at his friend, "You have one of those 'little pictures' of mine framed in your bedroom."

"That's not because of any particular talent on your part; you just got lucky with a beautiful landscape and happened to have a camera with you."

"Keep telling yourself that, Blaise."

Granger was looking between the two of them. "I don't understand something."

Both turned surprised eyes on her.

"And you're admitting to this ignorance?" Blaise asked. "I thought that was akin to treason with you academic types."

She ignored his comment. "If you two are friends as close as I suspect you are, I don't understand why you, Zabini, were so willing to expose Malfoy as the Fox?"

"Maybe I'm tired of him stealing all my girlfriends and think having him put in Azkaban will solve that problem for me nicely."

"Once. That was once and it was way back in school. She told me you chucked her for her brother." Draco pretended to glare at his friend, who was having quite a bit of fun messing with Granger. Then again, Blaise enjoyed messing with the minds of anyone he could. It was something of a hobby for him.

"And it would never happen again if Granger here would just throw you in prison already."

Granger, sensing that the conversation was far out of her control, tried to instill order once more. "Malfoy, I had the liberty of interviewing your coworkers and they told me that you're fond of doing international stories that take you all over the world. Your boss told me that you're the main reason for the international relations section and that the Ministry have tried to recruit you a number of times for the Department of International Cooperation."

"Good for you, Granger. You did your homework." Draco was tempted to pat her on the head condescendingly, but he wasn't sure he'd get to keep his arm.

She ignored his comment. "Your job has you travelling all around the world. A few of your trips coincide with robberies in the area."

"Sometimes, yes, but it's rare. Most of the time, I'm either home or on opposite sides of the world from where the robberies take place."

Wanting attention on himself again, Blaise snaked an arm across the table and snatched a sausage from Draco's plate, something that would usually get him hexed or at least scolded within an inch of his life. Neither of them even glanced at him.

"I'm just going to leave you two and your sexual tension alone," Blaise said, still completely ignored.

"I know you're the Fox, Malfoy. I'm not going to let you get away with breaking the law so blatantly. I don't know Zabini's motivation for telling me it was you, but everything fits."

She was so focused on finding him guilty of something that she hadn't even noticed she was sitting at the table with the real Fox. If it didn't have Granger set on sending him to prison, Draco would be amused with the whole situation.

"Granger, did it occur to you that in the same way you just assumed that I'm unemployed and living off of my parents, you're assuming that I'm this art thief?"

She stood, her breakfast virtually untouched. "Eventually, you're going to slip up and I'm going to be there to catch you."

"So you've said. Are we stopping at the library before I see you out or would you like to storm off in an indignant huff?"

"The library, but only because you've ruined my huff." She whipped around so quickly that Draco nearly collided with her. "Don't get any ideas though, that kiss can never happen again."

"We'll see," Draco said with a smirk.

* * *

"I've noticed that Granger woman hanging around our house more than necessary," Lucius said a few days later during dinner.

If it was up to Draco and his father, they'd never interact. Unfortunately, that would sadden Narcissa, and keeping her happy was one of the few things they agreed on. So they had dinner as a family as frequently as they could with their opposing schedules.

"She's Granger, Father. Blaise told her I was the Fox and now she's going to be dropping in on us as frequently as she wants until she's managed to arrest me for something."

Lucius glared. "I know that much. I'm working on getting her taken off the case. Perhaps the lazy Weasley Auror would be a better choice, at least then you wouldn't be allowing him to spend more time here than necessary reading in the library."

"Is this true, Draco?" Narcissa asked.

He nodded.

"Well I think it's lovely that he's spending time with someone who's a good influence," she decided. "Perhaps now you'll consider that job at the Ministry instead of your silly picture taking."

This conversation was one he'd had more than once with both of his parents and Draco was tired of he. He shrugged noncommittally, the reaction he'd learned was best when confronted about his job. "Speaking of my work, I have a Portkey to Brazil that activates later today. There's a conference or something there this week that I'm supposed to cover."

His announcement received the same enthusiasm he would expect from telling them that he was moving out of the Manor to join the Muggle military. Draco had expected this. He sighed and finished his dinner in silence.

As he was leaving that night after dark, his camera bag slung over his shoulder and the rumpled newspaper that was his Portkey tucked under his arm, there was a strange rustling from the bushes that had him pausing. The Manor grounds were generally safe, but it wasn't unheard of for some dangerous creature from the countryside to wander too close to the house.

He was reaching for his wand when, in an explosion of leaves, his attacker was suddenly right in front of him, wand pressed against his jugular.

"Bloody- Granger. What in the hell are you doing hiding in shrubberies?"

"I knew I was going to catch you eventually. You're about to go steal something, aren't you?"

"Granger, I think you should go home and get some rest. You're clearly becoming unhinged."

"I'm not! You're trying to make me feel like a fool with insults and misdirection when really you're about to go steal something."

Draco looked at his watch. He had thirty seconds before his Portkey was scheduled to leave. Definitely not enough time to talk reason into a determined Granger. He made sure his bag was secured on his shoulder, adjusted his grip on the newspaper, and pulled Granger against him, making sure that she was touching the Portkey as well.

"Malfoy, what are you- uuulp."

Pretending that he was adjusting his grip on her so that she wasn't flung away, Draco shifted his hand down to grab a handful of her arse. Granger was so busy screaming at him about kidnapping her that she didn't even notice what he had done.

The moment they landed, she ripped herself away from him. Draco felt the vicious kick to his shin was probably unnecessary, but she hadn't tried to remove his hand for getting a little too friendly with her bum, so he considered it a fair trade.

"I hope you're aware that you've just kidnapped an Auror, and that I can put you in Azkaban for that alone," she snapped. The kicked seemed to have drained a good portion of her anger and now she was more resigned to her fate. "Where are we, anyway?"

"In my defense, you leapt out at me just as my Portkey was about to leave. It was take you with me or risk missing the thing. As to where we are: somewhere in Brazil. There's a conference here on something or other that I'm supposed to be covering."

Her eyes widened. "You have a press pass to get you into the international conference for the rights and freedoms of magical creatures?"

Draco twisted a little to see the press badge wrapped around the handle to his camera bag. It stated in large block letters the name of the convention. "Apparently."

"You were invited and you didn't even know what you're here for?"

He winced as she started to get shrill again. That was the one part about getting Granger all riled up that he didn't like; her screechy voice. It was like a knife to the eardrums.

"Granger, I get invitations to all kinds of obscure events. I take the pictures, ask the pre-selected questions, and then someone back at the Prophet writes a story to go with my pictures. For the sake of my sanity, it's actually best that I pay as little attention to my surroundings as possible. Last year, they had me at a baby jumping festival in Spain. I have no idea what was going on, and I didn't want to know. I took great pictures, and I left."

She wasn't angry anymore. Instead, the starving puppy eyes were back. If she had been doing them on purpose, Draco would have been disgusted, but she was doing everything in her power to keep them from him, which somehow made them that much more irresistible. They pulled at his shrivelled, black heartstrings.

"I'm sure you could come along and carry my camera bag or something."

She lit up, all threats of Azkaban completely forgotten now that she was going to attend some conference. Draco decided to hold off on telling her that all the hotels approved by the conference organizers were booked solid and she was going to have to share a room with him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**A/N: Hello readers! It's hot outside. I know it's summer and everything, but clearly summer was a little overenthusiastic this year.**

**As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed and to irianaceleste for betaing!**

**~Frosty**

Surprisingly, Granger took the news of their shared room pretty well. It helped that the paper had waited a little too long to book Draco's room and had only been able to get him one with two single beds instead of one double bed.

They lasted the night without incident and Granger was too excited about the upcoming conference to get too upset with Draco in the morning. This was good because he'd walked in on her while she was in the shower not so long ago. He hadn't been able to see anything, what with the shower curtain in the way, but he wouldn't have known it from the amount of screeching that Granger did. Thankfully, she recovered quickly.

"Keep up, Granger," he called, striding down the street. She was struggling under the weight of his heavy camera bag and the heat was doing interesting things to the frizz levels of her hair. Despite this, she remained in high spirits and hadn't snapped at him once.

Out of the corner of his eye, Draco caught sight of something that had him faltering for the briefest of moments. Granger was far enough behind him that she didn't notice it, thankfully.

Seated in a restaurant eating his breakfast was Blaise, looking like he was just on vacation. Blaise visiting him while he was working around the world wasn't completely unheard of, but having Granger there at the same time presented a problem. Without direction, Blaise tended to get a little grabby with artwork and other things that didn't belong to him.

Draco made eye contact with his friend and then tilted his head towards Granger, the warning clear. Neither of them needed any trouble while Granger was in the city looking to catch a thief in action. More importantly, if Granger caught sight of Blaise and decided to check into how he managed to get to Brazil, she'd find that he hadn't used magical means to get there. From there, it wouldn't be terribly difficult for her to confound a few Muggles and get Blaise's travel history. She'd be able to connect that with the pattern of robberies and then Blaise would be in Azkaban.

"You're enjoying this a little too much," Granger said when she caught up to him.

"Think of it as following a lead. This could be some kind of very elaborate cover and any second now, I'll distract you with something and then veer off to snatch some priceless artifact."

Granger shook her head, but she followed him the rest of the way to the magical courtyard that was to house the convention in a huge, magically fortified tent.

The convention was just as Draco had expected: exceedingly uninteresting. He snapped a few pictures, mostly bored out of his mind with the proceedings. At his side though, Granger was completely rapt, fascinated and hanging on every word spoken.

Any moment now, he expected her to raise her hand and start wiggling eagerly in her seat, waiting for someone to call on her. It was just like being in school again, except he found her behaviour sort of endearing instead of excruciatingly irritating.

"I'll be right back," he whispered after two hours. It was leave the room or start bashing his head on something just to alleviate his boredom.

Granger waved him off without looking away from the speaker. For once, her complete focus on something was working in his favour.

Security gave him questioning looks as he slipped out, but a flash of his badge was enough for them. Despite all the people in attendance, security was pretty lax. Creature rights were a pretty controversial subject, but no one expected any trouble at such a harmless convention.

Just like Draco had suspected, Blaise was waiting for him outside the sight of the security team that lingered at the entrance to the tent.

"Tell me you're not planning on stealing something while Granger's in town."

Blaise shook his head. "Good to see you too, Draco. I've been fine, thanks for asking."

"Mate, Granger's pretty absorbed in that conference, but if she comes out here and finds us there's a good chance she'll have the both of us in Azkaban within a week. If you have something to tell me, say it already. Otherwise, get out of here."

"There was something that interested me here, but I wasn't sure I'd be able to get through the wards alone. I thought you could help me while you were in the area. Clearly you have more amorous intents."

"That's not why I brought her and you know it. She's here because she's trying to catch the Fox, which is why it's a terrible idea for you to steal something while she's in the city."

"Draco, it's a ring that can extend sexual stamina almost indefinitely."

"Having issues?" He smirked at his friend before glancing over his shoulder towards the tent. The conference speakers had been going on for what felt like hours. By Draco's estimate, they were due for a break in the near future.

"Of course not. I'm thinking about the bigger picture. Imagine some rich old man with a much younger wife and he can't even properly appreciate her because he never lasts. This ring could sell big and the owner wouldn't share too much about his new purchase, minimising the risk of the authorities tracking it down."

"Blaise, listen to me," Draco said, wanting to shake his friend. "You've gone this long without getting caught because you're smart. Don't let your sticky fingers and impatience get you arrested, especially when there's a good chance you'll take me down with you. Go home, wait a month, then come back here. Hell, I'll even help you. Besides, I don't see why this is so important, there are potions that do the same thing."

"It's not the same thing!" Blaise said, getting ready to launch into a long-winded explanation.

Draco glanced over his shoulder again and saw that people had started streaming out of the tent. Granger had found someone to talk to and was speaking eagerly, gesturing with her hands. She was distracted, but it was only a matter of time before she started scanning the crowd for him. Draco turned back to Blaise to tell him to get the hell out of there, but Blaise was already long gone. At least his sense of self-preservation seemed to still somewhat function.

"Where did you disappear to?" Granger asked him when she finally found him in the crowd. The man she'd been talking to had melted into the masses of people when he saw Granger greet Draco.

"Looks like you have an admirer, Granger."

She looked over her shoulder, surprised to find that the man was gone. "Leonard? He had some interesting theories about-"

Her words continued, but Draco wasn't listening. Granger was luminous when she talked about things that interested her. It wasn't hard to see what had attracted Leonard to her. What was hard to understand was how someone who felt so strongly about magical creatures was chasing around an art thief.

"Your eyes just glazed over. I can tell you're not listening, Malfoy."

"Can you blame me? That's why I had to leave; I was suffocating under the deluge of information. All of those six syllable words and new ideas were overwhelming my rigid Pureblood mind."

"Nice try. You were just bored."

* * *

Draco was determined to make that night more eventful than the previous one. Their lunch and dinner had been provided by the conference, so they hadn't even gone out to enjoy the city. By the time the dinner portion of their evening commenced, Draco had stopped considering stabbing his fork into the eye of the annoying man beside him and started contemplating stabbing it into his own. At least that death would have been quick instead of a slow, painful death from boredom.

"Are you always so bored while you're working?" Granger asked him on the walk back to their hotel.

"No, I took this job because I wanted a break from this annoying Ministry official who kept harassing me."

She snorted. "You brought this on yourself, Malfoy. Just turn yourself in, return the artwork, and maybe I'll be able to arrange some kind of deal for you."

"If I were actually the Fox, that little speech wouldn't do much to convince me. Has it worked on criminals in the past?"

Granger ignored him, skipping ahead a little. She'd long ago cast a weightlessness charm on his camera bag, so she was completely unhindered by the formerly heavy object. "I don't think I've had a vacation in the last three years."

"This isn't a vacation, Granger. You're still working."

"Yes, but all I have to do is keep an eye on you, and that could easily be done from the beach."

Well, that worked better than he could have anticipated. Granger seemed to be broken if she was willing to go to the beach with him, but Draco was ready to take full advantage of it.

He tried to think back to the conference, wondering if they had been offering wine and he hadn't noticed. Merlin he hoped not; some alcohol may have made the whole experience a little more tolerable.

Since Granger didn't have a bathing suit or a change of clothes and fabric could only be magically cleaned so many times before it started to disintegrate, they decided some shopping was in order before they went to the beach.

For the clothes shopping portion of their trip, Draco waited outside the store. He quickly learned that no matter how boring it would be to shop with Granger, it had to be more entertaining than leaning against a building and staring down the curious pedestrians.

When it came time for the bathing suit portion of their little trip, Draco followed Granger into the store.

"You don't get an opinion in this, Malfoy," she said sharply.

He looked around the shop. As far as he could tell, everything was very revealing and didn't look like something Granger would choose at all.

"My lips are sealed."

Granger flipped through racks of tiny scraps of fabric, making frustrated sounds every few minutes. Bored with watching her, Draco started flipping through some of the racks himself, finding amusement in picturing Granger in some of the more revealing ones.

A Muggle woman brushed by him talking on her phone, tripping over something as she tried to talk and browse at the same time. Without thinking, Draco caught her elbow to steady her. She smiled her thanks at him and moved on without faltering in her constant stream of chatter.

Draco turned his attention back to the rack, but he couldn't focus because Granger was staring at him. Since his mouth was sealed, he raised his eyebrows in question.

"You're strangely comfortable in the Muggle world. I would have thought you'd recoil in horror when that woman fell against you."

Damn. He should have shoved the Muggle woman away from his and run away laughing evilly. If Granger thought he was uncomfortable with Muggles, she would be less likely to think that he would ever board a plane and fly somewhere.

"You're allowed to talk," she grumbled, irritated with his silence.

Instead, Draco handed her a bathing suit. It was a halter type, fastening at her neck and at the back with a clip. It would cover her entire chest, most of her back, and everything else he imagined she'd want covered. While he had hoped for her to wear something revealing, this promised to get her out of the boring shop.

Granger was still studying him like a puzzle she was determined to solve.

"Go try that on so we can get out of here," he urged.

He wasn't surprised when Granger came out of the changing room and paid for the suit. She was though, he could tell by the strange looks she kept directing his way.

They made a quick stop at the hotel room to drop off the bags and change into their bathing suits before hurrying to the beach.

"The sunset is beautiful," Granger said in a quiet voice.

"Isn't it sunrise and sunset when sharks do most of their hunting?"

"What kind of internationally infamous art thief is afraid of a few sharks?"

"The kind who doesn't steal art and doubts his chances against a shark."

While she seemed full of bravado when they were standing on the beach, Granger was significantly less confident once she was in the water. She kept darting searching looks around at the surface of the water when she thought Draco wasn't looking.

She quickly dove under the surface, swam around for a while, and then headed back to shore. Draco followed her example. He should have been watching for sharks as she had been, but the waning sunlight painted her a fascinating golden red colour that had him staring at her instead.

"Malfoy, are you coming?" she called from the shore.

Draco shook his head to clear his mental image of what she'd look like wearing nothing but the sunlight and followed her to the shore.

"Our swim only lasted five minutes," he observed. "I'm beginning to think you had ulterior motives. This was all just a ruse to get me to take my clothes off, wasn't it?"

If she was blushing, he couldn't tell in the low light.

"I saw the way you were watching me a moment ago, Malfoy. You're not completely unaffected by me either."

He continued to look at her, wondering if her skin would feel as lovely as it looked.

"Malfoy?"

Granger was right in front of him, probably wondering why he'd gone silent. Her expression suggested confusion, but her dilated pupils told another story entirely. As much as she denied it, she really did like looking at him when he was half naked.

"If I had the urge to steal something, you'd want me to warn you, correct?"

Her head tilted to the side and her entire person exuded complete bafflement. "Is this a hypothetical question?"

"Sure, let's call it that."

"Well then yes, I would appreciate a warning before you tried to steal something. As an Auror, I'm obligated to stop you from – what was that, Malfoy? I can't hear you over the waves."

With his lips in the way, Draco imagined that she was suddenly finding it very difficult to speak.

"I said 'I'm going to steal a kiss now'," he informed her they were both breathing heavily and he'd pulled away.

Granger's face immediately scrunched up in a grimace. "That's atrociously cheesy, Malfoy."

"I completely agree. You're going to have to take back the kiss."

"Incorrigible!" She tried for indignant, but she was laughing too hard. Then she was kissing him and couldn't say anything at all.

* * *

Over the last day of the conference, the changes in their relationship were small, but they had a huge effect on their interactions. Granger sometimes laid a hand on Draco's arm when she was talking to him as if she was unconsciously reaching out to him even when she shouldn't. Of course, once she noticed this, she would blush and snatch it back again.

She also blushed more at comments that, in the past, would have just rolled off of her. The Auror facade that she had used as a barrier between them had crumbled somewhat. She even allowed him to put an arm around her without shrugging him off.

Draco was very aware that Granger had somehow turned him into a pansy. Even worse, he wasn't entirely sure that he would reverse the transformation if given the chance.

As soon as he saw the stern face Granger turned on him over their Portkey, he knew it didn't bode well for him. He glanced down at his watch: five minutes until their Portkey was scheduled to leave. That left more than enough time for Granger to say something that could shatter him.

"What is it, Granger?" He was pleased that none of his building dread had leaked into his voice. If he was going to be completely pathetic, at least he was moderately skilled at concealing it.

"What's happened here..." She trailed off, for once at a loss for words. Draco briefly wondering if shaking her would make the words tumble out so she could get it over with already, but he didn't think she'd appreciate it.

"I can't say I didn't enjoy your attentions, but..."

Again with the incomplete sentences! The whole ordeal was made worse by Draco's ability to fill in the blanks she kept leaving. A quick glance at his watch revealed that he still had three and a half minutes of this torture. He wasn't sure that he'd survive.

"I get it, Granger," he said, voice flat. "You had fun for once and must now suffer the obligatory self-flagellation, starting with forcing yourself to tell me that this thing between us is unprofessional and can never happen again."

The worst part of forcing himself to say those words was the embarrassed relief on her face when he'd finished.

Fine. So he was attracted to her and had taken a chance on exploring that attraction. If Granger was too much of a coward to do the same, he wasn't going to suffer for it. He was a Malfoy; if he had anything, it was his pride.

"Thanks for understanding, Malfoy."

"Sure, Granger."

He looked down at his watch; only a minute and a half left before he'd be free of her.

* * *

Not for the first time, Draco woke up to Granger searching through his bedroom. This time though, Potter was there with her.

"I'm having a talk with my mother," he grumbled. This was getting ridiculous. Next he'd wake up to find an entire Quidditch team camped out at the end of his bed.

"Where are they, Malfoy?" Granger demanded, a screechy edge of panic in her voice.

Draco sat up, never having heard that tone of desperation from her before. "What have I supposedly stolen this time?"

"This isn't the time to play coy, Malfoy," Potter said. "There are sick children dying."

Not understanding how in the world this related to art thievery, Draco looked between the two Aurors. "I'm not seeing what this has to do with me."

Granger made a sound of distress. "Are you really so callous?"

"It would seem so," he muttered. "I have no idea what's going on."

"This isn't a game, Malfoy!" Draco's eyes nearly crossed as he looked at the tip of Granger's wand suddenly pointed in his face. If she wasn't careful, she was going to poke out someone's eye with that thing.

He nudged her wand away and ran a hand through his hair. "I think you two need to start from the beginning."

"You know exactly what happened." Granger looked on the verge of jabbing at him with her wand again.

Surprisingly, it was Potter who had some faith in him. "I'm not sure he does, Hermione," he said, watching Draco very closely. Draco was having sixth year flashbacks to when Potter was around every corner giving him that very same suspicious but assessing look.

Granger frowned, examining Draco for herself. Eventually, she relented. "Last night the Fox broke into St. Mungo's and stole three crates of the potion that heals the new strain of Dragon Pox that only seems to target children. The potion takes a year to brew and that was the hospital's entire supply."

"What makes you think that an art thief would suddenly steal medication from sick children?"

The desperation in Granger's eyes was still there, but the suspicion had faded somewhat. "To the parents of those sick children, that potion is priceless. A thief could make more money selling the stuff than he'd be able to make in years of stealing and selling art."

"On top of that, the potion storage department of St. Mungo's is as heavily guarded as most magical museums," Potter added. "It would take quite a lot of skill and planning to pull off a heist like this one."

While he didn't want to implement himself, Draco wasn't going to let children die. The thought that this might be some elaborate ruse to catch him had crossed his mind, but Granger wasn't skilled enough at acting. Her distress was genuine. Besides that, it would grate against her sense of justice to catch him with a dirty trick.

Sighing, Draco ran a hand through his hair once more as he stood from the bed. "Take me there," he ordered, pulling some clothing from his wardrobe and shutting himself in his bathroom to change.

* * *

Magical protection spells, even the ones that didn't make themselves known until they were tripped, had a feel to them. Draco knew from experience that few, if any, Ministry officials had the skill or the affinity to properly feel out a protection spell. This was a large part of why the Fox had never been caught. Most people hired a company that excelled in protection spells and then assumed that everything was safe. Their complacency made Blaise's job so much easier.

While Blaise was able to discern the shape and type of protection spell that had been cast, Draco was much better at it.

"He's just standing there with his eyes closed," Potter whispered. "He hasn't even cast a spell."

Opening his eyes, Draco turned around to glare at the two Aurors. "This is easier to do with silence."

Despite his protest, he already knew everything that he needed to know from the spell. Whoever had stolen the potions didn't possess much finesse. There was a spot in the far corner of the room where the spell was in tatters. Someone had magically blasted their way through the barrier. Draco was surprised that rest of the spell had survived the barrage.

"What exactly is it that you're doing?" Potter asked. "You didn't even take out your wand."

"That's because it's easier to feel out a spell without my wand." Draco didn't bother explaining; he didn't have the time to answer all of the questions that Granger would have, and Potter probably wouldn't understand. Instead, Draco passed them and opened a nearby door. It was a storage closet.

"Malfoy, what are you doing?" Potter demanded, sounding irritated.

Draco stared up at the ceiling. "Potter, you brought me here to see what I could find. Either you trust me enough to do the investigation you brought me here for or you don't. Make a decision. I don't want you to continuously interrupt me."

Thankfully, Potter stepped back out of the closet, giving Draco some space. It was too much to expect the nosy Auror to leave him entirely alone though, Potter and Granger crowded in the doorway. They watched as he reached towards the ceiling, pressed up on one of the tiles and hauled himself up into the space above the ceiling.

The potion stores were within a vault, so Draco shouldn't have been able to access them through the ceiling. However, the thieves had blasted their way through stone and metal when they took down the protection spell and then just covered the damage with an illusion.

Draco dropped down into the chilled room full of shelves. He waited until Potter and Granger opened the door and entered the potion stores.

"I found the way the thieves got inside," Draco said, pointing at the now visible hole in the ceiling.

"How did we miss that?" Granger mumbled, more to herself than her companions.

"You were thinking like an Auror and not like a thief."

Granger was giving him a strange look.

"What?" he asked.

"I was starting to think that maybe you weren't a criminal, but you've practically admitted it."

"I'm not the Fox." Draco was starting to get the feeling that no matter how many times he denied it, Granger was never going to believe him.

* * *

After Draco left Granger and Potter to play around with their new information, he went to visit Blaise.

Unlike Draco, Blaise didn't live at home. He'd moved out of his Mum's house even before he'd graduated from Hogwarts.

Draco let himself in and found Blaise sitting at the table in his flat eating breakfast.

"What brings you to my humble flat?"

Since he didn't have House Elves, Blaise's breakfast was a lot less elaborate than Draco's usually were. Blaise was eating a bowl of cereal with a banana sliced into it. For an international art thief, he didn't have a very glamorous lifestyle at all.

Draco guessed this was part of why Granger didn't so much as suspect that Blaise was the Fox.

"Have you heard anything about the stolen Dragon Pox cure?"

Setting down the spoon, Blaise gave his friend his full attention. "I've heard that the Aurors think I've stolen three crates of a potion that was going to cure all of those children. How did you hear about it though? You usually aren't even out of bed by this time."

"I woke up to Granger and Potter poking around my room, desperate to find those potions. They took me to St. Mungo's to look at the scene of the crime."

"What did you learn?"

Draco explained everything he'd seen and felt, all of his observations about the theft.

"At the rates the Aurors investigate, they're never going to find anything," Blaise said.

"So you'll ask around?"

"Of course."

Draco nodded his thanks. While he has some involvement with the band of criminals that were an occupational hazard for Blaise's job, he wasn't the one who would be able to discretely ask around. This was especially true since Draco had started spending good chunks of his spare time with an Auror. Something like that, especially since the Auror was a war hero and Draco was a former Death Eater, didn't stay secret for long.

Of course, that wasn't going to be a problem anymore, since Granger had decided to remain solely professional. Hell, she'd probably only brought Potter along with her as a buffer.

Blaise's sharp eyes didn't miss his friend's sudden frown. "Now that we have the business portion of this meeting covered, tell me what happened with you and Granger. Is she a wildcat in bed like I'd imagined?"

"Blaise, why have you been thinking about Granger in bed? She's female!"

"Thank you, Draco. I hadn't noticed. That certainly would have been awkward when she took off her pants and I screamed like a little girl." He shook his head at his friend. "Just because I'm allergic to shellfish doesn't mean I don't wonder how it tastes."

Draco shuddered. "That's a terrible metaphor. I thought I'd forbidden you from trying to use them."

"You forbid me from breaking into your bedroom and eating your fruit salad as well, and look how that turned out for you. I'm guessing from the way you tried to avoid the question that your trip with Granger didn't go well."

It took a great force of will to stop himself from banging his head down on the table. "It was excruciating, Blaise. We spent the entire night together and then she tried to let me down easy but kept trailing off. I had to finish it for her. Essentially, I let myself down easy."

"You didn't shag her, did you?"

Draco shook his head. They'd been close, but Granger had come to her senses a little too soon, pulling out of her kiss drugged haze and ordering him to sleep in his own bed. While Draco was good at sweet talking normally, something about Granger always seemed to short circuit the ability.

"Pansy."

He pulled back his drooping shoulders and glared at his friend. "You're holding your spoon with your pinky in the air. You used the word 'draperies' in conversation three times last Thursday, and I bet you're doing those disturbing arse clenching exercises right now. You're making that weird face. How am I the pansy?"

"I had sex last night. Great sex. You went to bed frustrated in the same room as the girl who caused your blue balls. Pansy."

Well when he put it that way... Draco scowled, not really having anything to say for himself.

"Besides," Blaise continued, "There's nothing wrong with wanting a nice, tight arse. I hardly think that makes me a pansy."

Draco groaned and got up from the table. Knowing Blaise, if Draco didn't agree with him, he'd stand up and turn around to use his arse as evidence. With the terrible morning he'd been having, Draco just didn't have it in him to withstand being mooned over the breakfast table.

"Make sure you look into those missing potions." He practically dashed into the fireplace when it looked like Blaise was starting to stand.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**A/N: Hello readers! Only one chapter after this one! We're almost at the end.**

**As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed and to irianaceleste for betaing.**

**~Frosty**

Draco had met a number of Blaise's contacts before – wearing a disguise, of course – and he suspected that even most of those criminal, hardened men would have a problem with killing hundreds of children. He needed someone with contacts that lacked even the limited morality that Blaise's criminal friends possessed.

"I'm in the middle of something important," Lucius said without looking up from the accounting books spread across the desk in front of him.

"Father, I have something important to discuss with you."

Sighing as if speaking to his son was one of the great trials of his life, Lucius set his quill to the side. "Go on then."

"Three crates of a potion that heals Dragon Pox has gone missing from St. Mungo's. Granger came to me because she thought I'd stolen them, and now I'm helping her find them. I need you to ask around, see if you can help locate them."

Lucius rubbed the bridge of his nose, closed his eyes, and looked put upon. "What am I going to tell people, that my son associates with Aurors and needs help? This is unacceptable."

"It was unacceptable when I was friends with Blaise, now it's unacceptable that I'm working with Aurors to try and save a hospital full of sick children. Would you be happy if I allowed you to pre-approve all of my interactions? I think that might be the only way you'd ever be content with me."

"I only want what's best for you and you do nothing but resist me."

"You don't want what's best! You want me to present a certain image – _your _image. As long as I do everything you want, you tolerate me, otherwise I'm a disgrace."

Draco put up a hand to stop whatever retort Lucius was about to deliver. "Father, are you going to help with this or not?"

"Of course. I'm not going to make children suffer because you made poor choices."

Good enough. Draco nodded his thanks and left the room before his Father started insulting him once more. If they gained enough momentum in their battle of wills, they could be trading barbs for a while and neither of them needed the distraction at the moment.

* * *

As it turned out, both Blaise and his father were quite helpful in the return of the potions. Each of them, through contacts, got in touch with the low life who'd stolen them. Together, they'd arranged a deal to have the potions returned. Said deal emptied a pretty large chunk of Draco's personal fortune, but it was worth it.

Draco wasn't naive enough to think that working together had united Blaise and his father. Lucius was still going to disapprove of Blaise, and Blaise was going to go right on intentionally angering Lucius whenever an opportunity arose. However, for the length of time it had taken them to negotiate with the potion thief, they presented a united front and got the job done.

They weren't as different as they liked to think. It was just a shame that children had to die for them to be on the same page for once.

Of course, it was left to Draco to make sure that the potions were returned to the hospital. His father and Blaise insisted on staying behind the scenes.

Draco had briefly thought about slipping into St. Mungo's unnoticed and leaving the potions where they belonged, but there was always a chance that the crates wouldn't be noticed for a while or that the thief would return to take them again while there was still a hole in the wards.

He could take them straight to the Aurors, but they would most likely assume that he was the one who had stolen them and arrest him. Really, there was only one option.

If he got a little revenge while he was at it, well, that just made it that much sweeter.

Granger was not one of those angelic sleepers that appeared peaceful and perfect while resting. She looked like she'd done battle with her sheets and lost, tangled up in the blankets so that she would have to fight her way free of them in the morning. Her pillow had been thrown across the room and her head was at the footboard as if she had flailed around so much that she was now upside down.

She wasn't angelic, but she still inspired feelings of affection in Draco. Something was clearly wrong with him, and he wasn't sure that he wanted it to stop.

He set down the crates soundlessly, keeping a wary eye on Granger the whole time. If he woke up, he wanted time to brace himself for an attack. As a precaution, he took her wand from the nightstand before clearing his throat.

Nothing. Granger didn't even twitch.

He cleared his throat louder, starting to feel a little ridiculous. How this woman had managed to survive a traumatic war and still be such a heavy sleeper was beyond him. Maybe she'd just been working so hard to find the potions that she was completely exhausted. Draco frowned at the thought, feeling a little bit bad for interrupting her sleep if that was the case.

He pressed on though, knowing that she would want them in her custody as soon as possible so she could get the potions to the children.

"Granger."

At the sound of his voice, she immediately woke up and started scrambling for her wand. Draco wasn't sure whether to be flattered or insulted that his voice had elicited such a strong reaction from her.

In the process of getting to the end table that usually to housed her wand, Granger tangled herself further in her sheets, eventually falling to the mattress, completely trapped.

"Malfoy?" she asked, breathing heavily and struggling against her bindings. He couldn't tell what emotion was in her voice, but he didn't like it. "How'd you get in here?" Then she shook her head. "Never mind, master thief, I forgot." Now he definitely recognised what was in her voice; accusation with a hint of bitterness.

He lit the tip of his wand so that she could better see him. The illumination also meant that Draco also had a better view of her. He was momentarily distracted by how skimpy her pyjama shorts and the way her chest was heaving against the thin fabric of her top.

A quick shake of his head had him back on track.

"You're going to want to get these to St. Mungo's," he said with a nod towards the crates at his feet.

Even tangled in her sheets, Granger managed to lever herself upright and stare at the crates. When her eyes turned to him, there was much more accusation in them than Draco thought he deserved. While he hadn't exactly expected her to prostrate herself at his feet, such distrust and accusation was uncalled for.

"Was your conscience bothering you too much to start selling them?" she asked. "I hope you realize that you've implicated yourself by slipping past my wards and bringing them here."

He had thought that Granger would be a better choice than taking the potions straight to the Auror office, but Draco was starting to think he would have been better off with whoever had the night shift there. A sigh was trying to escape him, but he forced it down, not wanting Granger to know that her lack of faith in him had the power to affect him. Instead, he pasted on a smirk.

"I'm sure you'll find that your wards show no sign of tampering. The only proof you'll have of my presence is a pile of crates and your word against mine. If you tried to take that to the Wizengamot, you'll find that my family still has quite a lot of sway at the Ministry."

By the way her wand was pulling against his pocket, Draco guessed that she was trying to summon it. He clamped a hand over it to keep it where it was. An armed and angry Granger was infinitely more troublesome than a bound and helpless Granger.

"Where's my wand?" she demanded when the piece of wood didn't obediently float to her hand.

"Don't worry, Granger. I'll give it to you before you leave. I have something else to say first."

"Tell me then! I want to get the potion to the children as quickly as possible."

He nodded, in complete agreement with her plan. "Before you storm my home with a team of Aurors to arrest me for being the Fox, you should ask yourself why I can break into your house without leaving a trace, but when I allegedly robbed the hospital, I had to bludgeon my way through their protection spells."

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind," she said impatiently. "Now free me!"

Draco could tell that she hadn't really considered his words. He supposed that, given the circumstances, he probably wouldn't have been in a thoughtful mood either. He was just going to hope that she'd remember what he'd said and think about it later, preferably before she hunted him down and arrested him.

Turning his back on the angry Auror, Draco opened her bedroom window before tossing her wand onto the bed by her hand. He was out the window and flying away on his broom before she had a chance to free herself from her sheets.

* * *

"You are never to leave me alone with your father again," Blaise said when Draco walked into his friend's sitting room.

"I was in a hurry to deliver those potions."

"Of course you were. Did Granger spread her legs in gratitude?"

Draco, in the process of seating himself, threw a pillow at his friend. "Don't be so vulgar. You're just in a bad mood because my father probably said something that hit a little too close to home. He's good at that."

With a lazy swat, Blaise deflected the fluffy projectile. "He's just an unpleasant person through and through. If I wasn't such a good friend, I'd leave you alone with my mother as revenge."

"You've done that several times in the past."

"That's because I think it's funny when she attempts to seduce you while you try to hide how scared you are."

"Her husbands have all died mysterious deaths just after naming her beneficiary in her will! How can you get such amusement from putting my life in danger?"

"It's not as if you would actually agree to marry her." Blaise paused and then shuddered. "That's a level of confusing and horrible I don't even want to contemplate."

"Can we get back on topic?" Draco asked, mostly to distract himself from contemplating the horror that would be marriage into Blaise's strange family.

"Your continuing celibacy?" Blaise nodded as if this problem was as serious as world hunger and only they had the power to solve it.

"No!" He looked at the pillow beside him and thought about throwing it at his friend, but the first one had been completely ineffective. It would be a wasted effort. "Granger thought I was the one who stole the potions and had a fit of conscience that led to returning them."

Blaise was suddenly all seriousness. "I'm sorry, mate."

"It doesn't matter." He was a little disappointed in Granger, but he'd get over it. What he needed to focus on was his next move.

Blaise stood and started rifling through the drawers under the sideboard. Random objects started flying over his shoulder as he searched and discarded them. A hand-sized rake, several Muggle bottle caps, a shoe, and a small Fabergé egg flew across the room. Draco reached out and caught the egg before it could hit the floor.

"You just keep this loose in a drawer of detritus?"

"Ha!" Blaise exclaimed triumphantly. He returned to his seat holding a small sailboat in a bottle. "This Portkey activates in an hour. I think it's time to take a little vacation." His attention was drawn to the egg in Draco's hand. "I've been looking for that."

They traded objects.

"Should you have things like that egg just lying around?" Draco asked again. Carelessness like that was how thieves got caught.

"It's fine. If anyone tries to authenticate it magically, it'll register as a fake. Besides, the owners don't even know it's been stolen."

"Why take the risk to keep it in a drawer?"

Blaise shrugged. "It was in my pocket, I put it on the sideboard when I changed, and then it eventually migrated into the drawer." He put it back into his pocket, probably to start the cycle all over again. "The egg's not what's important. If you miss that Portkey, the next one's taking you somewhere unpleasant, so I suggest that you get home and start packing."

It was only as Draco was leaving that he realized he'd forgotten to ask where he was headed.

* * *

As it turned out, the Portkey took him to a tropical island somewhere. Draco hadn't bothered asking where he was and none of the locals had seen fit to enlighten him. All he knew was that someone brought him a drink every time he made eye contact with one of the drink-carriers, and the ocean was so clear that he'd be able to see a shark from miles away.

He flicked open the paper that Blaise had been kind enough to owl him and tilted his head to examine the article over his sunglasses. Right on the front page was the story about the stolen potions, thankfully missing a few details, those pertaining to Draco's involvement in particular. The Auror office spun the story to make it seem as if Granger had apprehended the thief and confiscated the crates before the criminal escaped.

Draco wondered whether it was the Auror office that altered the truth or Granger herself, but then he pushed those thoughts aside and gestured for another drink. That way of thinking was only going to make him brood and ruin his vacation.

He was midway through swallowing a big gulp of fruity ice and alcohol when he spotted a figure down the beach. This figure was wearing black robes that made them stand out among the bathing suit clad people lounging on the beach.

When he realized that the figure was Granger, he very nearly choked on his mouthful. After struggling to swallow properly, he raised two fingers to the nearest server, hoping his slightly desperate look would urge the man to hurry.

If Granger didn't want the second drink, he'd drink it himself.

Unfortunately, Granger reached him before the drinks.

"I didn't steal the potions," he said while she looked down at him from the end of his lounge chair. He barely restrained himself from making a comment about his partial nudity, settling instead for raising his eyebrows at her when he caught her looking.

"I know. What I want to know is why you ran if you were innocent."

He tilted his head up to get a better look at her, lifting a hand to shade some of the glare from the sun. "I didn't run; I merely took a fortuitously timed vacation. Now tell me how you're suddenly so sure I'm not a horrible person."

"You're certainly making it hard to think you're a _good _person," she grumbled, taking the chair at his side. Louder, she continued, "We checked with the goblins at Gringott's to see if someone paid you for the theft and found that you made a very large withdrawal, but received no payments." She was silent, watching his reaction to the news. Was he supposed to be relieved that she had some faith in him now that his trustworthiness was backed up with hard evidence? "You found the thief and bought back the antidotes, didn't you?"

He nodded.

"Why didn't you turn him in?"

"No time. It would have taken hours, maybe even a whole day to arrange something legally, and then there's always a chance that he would have escaped and taken the potions with him."

She mulled that over for a moment. Draco could tell she didn't like his choice but saw the logic in his solution and hated it.

"Can you tell me who he is now?" she finally asked.

"I never knew. I funded the acquisition, but I didn't have much of a role in the exchange."

Finally, the drinks arrived. Draco took his own, exchanging his empty glass for a full one, and then raised his eyebrows at Granger, indicating the second glass.

"I shouldn't," she said. "I'm technically working."

He thrust it into her hands, releasing it so that she had no option but to take it or let it run all over her nice, clean Auror's robes.

"Are you here to arrest me?"

"No." She took a tentative sip of the fluffy, fruity drink. "I'm here because I made a mistake."

Draco turned towards her and lifted up his sunglasses so that he could get a better look at her. "Granger, are you saying that you hunted me down halfway around the world while I'm on vacation-"

"A suspiciously timed vacation, at that."

He ignored her. "To tell me that you're sorry for thinking I was capable of knowingly dooming hoards of children for the sake of monetary gain, even though you've seen for yourself that I have _more than enough _money on my own."

"Well when you put it that way I sound like a horrible person." She sipped at her drink absently, then pulled back and looked at it in surprise when she tasted how much alcohol was in the thing. Draco just raised a challenging eyebrow at her, unapologetic.

Her next sip was deliberate and much longer.

"Far be it from me to accuse my moral superior of being a horrible person. Perish the thought, Granger."

She snorted into her drink. "Fine, if you're going to be a drama queen about the whole thing. Malfoy, I'm sorry that I thought you were a terrible person for the briefest moment." Her nose wrinkled as she took a huge gulp from her glass. "But you have to admit that the evidence against you-"

Draco held up a hand. "Don't ruin a perfectly good apology by getting all defensive."

Her lips pressed together in annoyance as she turned away from him and glared out towards the ocean. It really was a nice view; crystalline waters, palm trees, and a seemingly endless expanse of bright sand. Despite the pleasing visual, Draco knew that she was only looking at it when she mulled something over, or perhaps to avoid looking at him.

"I've requested to be reassigned and they've given someone else your case," she blurted when her drink was almost gone and her eyes had started to water from all the bright sunlight.

Draco wasn't surprised in the least. "In all honesty, I'm surprised that you didn't do it sooner. Your refusal to see anyone but me as the culprit is preventing you from catching the real Fox and has been since the beginning. You're too close to this case."

"You're being ridiculous."

Turning, he leaned towards her, lifting his sunglasses to reveal his eyes once more. "Look at me, Granger." He waited until she met his stare, only inches from his face. "I am not the Fox. No matter how long you try to prove that I am, you're never going to succeed because I didn't commit the Fox's crimes."

When she sat back on her lounge chair, her expression was stricken. "I almost believe you."

"You should. I'm telling the truth."

He settled back against his chair as well, watching her without even trying to conceal his staring. While Granger was able to ignore the strange looks their fellow beachgoers were directing towards her and her heavy robes, his stare seemed to unnerve her. While her eyes were on the water, she kept shooting furtive glances at him.

"You know, Granger," he said when he got bored of watching a drop of sweat make its way along her hairline and down her neck, "You'd be a lot more comfortable if you took off those heavy robes."

She shot to her feet but stumbled, ineffectually flinging her arms out for balance. It was too little, too late. She fell right on top of Draco, who only had time to steady her a little with his hands on her hips before they collided.

"Drink a little stronger than you expected?" His words were a little muffled since his face was squished against her chest. "Maybe you just have a shamefully low tolerance to alcohol," he added when she didn't move off of him.

Granger's knee very nearly crushed his favourite part of his anatomy as she pushed herself off of him. He wasn't sure if the knee had been intentional, but the elbow she jabbed into his stomach certainly was.

"I have to get back home," she mumbled, trying to leave.

Draco wasn't about to let her get away from him so easily. He stood and followed after her slightly staggered gait.

"What's wrong, Granger? Worried what will happen I'm half naked and you take off those concealing robes of yours?"

She mumbled something that sounded an awful lot like "I know exactly what would happen," but didn't elaborate further. Draco smirked in victory; he was getting to her.

Speeding up to follow closer behind her, he continued his interrogation. "What I want to know is why you drank the alcohol I offered you. With such a low tolerance, you clearly don't imbibe with anything resembling regularity, so why drink it?"

Normally, Granger would have hexed him or at least yelled at him until he had no choice but to rip off his ears or picture her naked as a distraction. This slightly tipsy Granger though seemed intent only on her escape, charging across the beach towards the hotel where Draco was staying.

Draco wasn't about to let a chance to pester her unimpeded pass him by.

"Was apologising to me so hard to swallow that you had to gulp down some alcohol to loosen your throat first?" Her only reaction was to speed up a little, so he pressed on. "Or maybe you were just looking for an excuse to get closer to me."

"You've already told me that you're technically working. This drunk stumbling isn't the kind of behaviour I'd expect from an Auror of your standing. My only conclusion is that something has you so unnerved that your only recourse was to numb yourself to it."

Finally, she stopped. They were behind a storage hut of some sort, out of sight from any prying eyes.

He waited until she turned to face him and then leaned forward, crowding her. "You're running from something, Granger. What is it?"

Her expression was mutinous. "There's nothing."

"Really?"

"Of course. I just didn't realize how much alcohol was in those drinks, and it hit me suddenly when I stood up."

He examined her for a moment, wondering how far he could push her. "I suppose I'll buy that, but there's still something that's been bothering you. Go ahead, Granger, get it off your chest." His eyes trailed down to said chest. Even covered in her boring Auror robes, it was interesting to look at.

Draco wasn't sure if he liked this tipsy, non-argumentative Granger better than the normal Granger. He kind of missed her yelling at him if he were being completely honest; she was radiant when angered. Still, it was nice to have her almost pliant.

"I told you, there's nothing."

He bent down so that they were nose to nose and then took a step forward, forcing Granger to back against the hut. When he had her trapped between the hut and his body, an arm on either side of her and his nose almost touching hers, he spoke again.

"Last chance, Granger."

Finally, some of her usual spark came back and she straightened up, bringing her back off the hut and pressing their noses together, putting herself in his personal space as much as he was in hers.

"I'm attracted to you, okay? Hell, I'm more than attracted to you. Occasionally, I even like you. But I shouldn't; you're a criminal."

"I thought we'd established that I wasn't the Fox."

"Maybe you're not the Fox, but no one on the right side of the law is as good at breaking though protection spells as you are."

"Everyone needs hobbies."

"Don't insult my intelligence."

"I would never. It's my third favourite thing about you."

He could see the effort it took her to suppress her curiosity. Unfortunately, she succeeded. Draco had wanted to see her reaction when he informed her that kissing her and making her angry were his first two favourite thing about her. If he wasn't going to get to do one, at least he almost always got to have the other.

She shoved him away from her before digging out her wand and casting a sobriety charm on herself. "I have to get back to the Ministry, Malfoy. I hope the rest of your vacation is pleasant."

Draco let her leave after that. Granger wanted nothing more to do with him. At least this time she'd told him without his assistance.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**A/N: Hello readers! Last chapter! I hope you like the ending, I actually fiddled with it for quite a while.**

***sigh* I just love meddling Blaise in this story. I don't have any friends like that though, which I think is a good thing. I probably would have stabbed him.**

**Now that I'm thinking about it, I believe I may BE a friend like Blaise. You know, with more respect for privacy and zero desire to know the details of sex lives.**

**Introspection.**

**Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed and to irianaceleste for betaing. **

**~Frosty**

Narcissa Malfoy was admittedly a little unstable after the war, but she was still a former Slytherin. While Draco wasn't really positive how she'd done it, one minute he was refusing to go on a blind date with a daughter of one of her friends and the next she was beaming at him and running off to owl the girl.

Now he was seated across a table from said girl. Draco was sure that she was lovely, but he just couldn't see it. Sure, she was nice to look at with her long, shiny hair and legs that went on forever, but she agreed with everything he said and giggled almost constantly.

Draco poured himself another glass of wine while she droned on about her brother or her cat or something. Whatever it was, he didn't care.

That was one thing he had to give to Granger; she was obsessed with the law and morals, but she never bored him half to death.

He got to the bottom of his glass of wine just as she finished her excruciatingly long story. For the first time since he'd met her at the restaurant, Draco smiled, an expression of pure relief that lasted right up until the giggling started. Who laughed so much at their own story? From what little he'd listened to her say, he seriously doubted that her anecdote had been moderately amusing, much less as hilarious as she seemed to think.

"Would you pour me another glass of wine?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at him.

Merlin, no. That would only make her giggling worse and Draco wasn't sure he'd be able to endure the rest of the date if that happened. His mother would never forgive him if he made her look bad by sending the girl home to her own mother in tears.

Draco poured the last of their bottle into his own empty glass. "I would, but it looks like we're out of wine." He couldn't muster even false regret, so he just took another big gulp of the alcohol.

"Getting drunk, are we?" asked a voice Draco hadn't expected to hear on his date. He shouldn't have been surprised though, the git made it a habit of disrespecting boundaries.

"Can we help you with something?" his date asked snootily. For the first time that evening, her voice didn't sound like she was on the verge of breaking out with giggles.

He looked up to see that Blaise had just turned around to grab a chair from a nearby table. Straddling the chair, Blaise folded his arms along the back and rested his chin on them.

"You two are clearly having all kinds of fun here and I hate to interrupt your date, but Draco needs to get home."

Tipping back his head, Draco finished his drink. Normally, he would have been annoyed with his friend for interrupting a date, but in this case he was grateful. He didn't tell this to Blaise though; the nuisance didn't need any encouragement.

"Why exactly am I needed back home?"

Blaise looked down at his watch. "Because you're going to have an angry Auror there any minute now."

"What have you done?"

"Something you should have done as soon as you came back from your vacation instead of avoiding the problem and letting your mother send you out with vapid, irritating women."

They both ignored his date's offended gasp. "I'm not going to sit here and take this abuse," she hissed. Ever the proper Pureblood, her voice didn't raise enough for the people at their neighboring tables to hear.

Draco and Blaise ignored her.

"If you're implying that Granger is the problem, then doing my job and going to Australia to take pictures for the two weeks after my vacation wasn't avoiding anything. She didn't want anything to do with me and I'm moving on with my life. it's perfectly healthy."

"It's not healthy; it's turned you all boring. You haven't even yelled at me for three days."

"I've barely seen you in three days. It's not my problem that you're a masochist and you need your fix."

Across the table, Draco's no longer giggling date stood. "I didn't agree to this date to be ignored and insulted." She turned on her heel and flounced from the room.

Draco raised his empty glass to her retreating figure.

"This is what happens when you let your mum set you up on blind dates with daughters of her friends," Blaise said.

Not for the first time, Draco wondered where Blaise got his information. He knew better than to pry though, Blaise would never reveal his sources. Draco did have some theories, topping the list were the supposedly loyal Malfoy House Elves, but he didn't have anything concrete.

"Speaking from experience?"

"No. Mother prefers to pretend I don't exist while plotting ways to take what little money I've managed to amass. Besides, she's always pretended that my preferences lean towards the female."

Draco tipped his empty glass towards himself, hoping that somehow it would have mysteriously filled itself with wine once more. No such luck.

"Any chance we can get another bottle of wine before I go face the dragon?"

"No time, mate."

"At least tell me what you did."

Blaise's eyes sparkled with a little too much amusement for his regretful look to be genuine. "Cats dropped from really high floors sustain less injuries than those dropped from lower floors because they're no longer tensed for the landing, they relax."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"It's best to be loose but ready when the dragon strikes. Take this time to limber up."

"You just don't want me to hex you."

Standing, Blaise returned the chair to the table he borrowed it from. "That too."

* * *

Draco arrived back at the Manor before Granger, but he didn't beat her by much. He had just stumbled out of the Floo Network and righted himself when there was a massive bang out on the grounds.

"The Granger woman just blew out a good portion of our perimeter wall," Lucius said from his position at the window. "I'm going to assume this is somehow your fault."

"It's Blaise's actually."

Lucius frowned, clearly disappointed in his son. "I've told you time and again that associating with him will only cause problems."

"This wouldn't be a problem at all if you hadn't tipped off Granger."

"Lucius," Narcissa called, hurrying into the room. "I think we're under attack."

"No we're not, darling. It's just Draco that's under attack." He took his wife's arm and started to lead her out of the room. "Let's go upstairs and leave him to it. If we're lucky, she may knock some sense into him."

Narcissa let herself be led, but started at her husband shrewdly. "You're hiding something from me, Lucius Malfoy."

Their argument faded as they disappeared up the stairs.

Turning his attention back to the window, Draco saw that Granger was approaching the Manor with murder in her eyes so obvious that he saw it even from a moderate distance. He had no idea what Blaise had done, but Draco swore then and there that he was going to make sure Blaise didn't get away without some sort of consequences for his actions.

Casting a quick sobriety charm on himself so that he would be facing a raging Granger with a clear head, Draco headed for the door. He wanted to be the one to answer it. The House Elves didn't deserve to have to face her just so Draco could have a few more minutes to come up with a plan.

As it turned out though, the elves probably would have fared better than him. The moment Draco opened the door, he had to duck a spell aimed at his head.

"Where is it?" Granger screeched.

"You're going to have to be more specific."

He had to duck once more as she tried to hex him again. The wall started melting where the spell had hit, making Draco very glad that he'd been able to dodge. Granger was playing with him, whatever Blaise had taken must have been very important to her.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about!" The statement was followed by another barrage of spells that he narrowly managed to dodge. The wall was never going to be the same again.

"Let's just pretend for a moment-" he dove behind a chair as yet another spell only missed him by a fraction of an inch "- that I have no idea what you're looking for."

She reached into her pocket and threw something at him. It was a crumpled up piece of parchment with the words: _You know where to find it._

The barrage of spells ruining the sofa Draco was hiding behind slowed as he read the paper, confusion and then irritated understanding clear on his face.

"So you see why I'm here."

"What I see is proof that I need new friends," he muttered. Then, louder, "What is it that I've allegedly stolen?"

She looked ready to hex him again. "The little painting from my bedroom of the bunch of sunflowers, Malfoy. I know you saw it when you were delivering those cases of healing potions. That painting is the only thing I have to remember my grandmother by, but its only value is sentimental. I want it back."

Of course. Of course Blaise stole something that was clearly precious to her. Not only did Draco look like a wanker, but he made Granger as angry as possible before sending her after him.

Knowing Blaise, the painting was hidden somewhere in the Manor. Draco wasn't sure where it would be, though he did have some ideas.

"I know you don't believe me, but I didn't take the painting." She definitely looked skeptical; however, the hexing didn't start again. He took this as a positive sign and continued. "I think it's somewhere in the Manor though."

"I've searched your house before, Malfoy. Don't think I won't do it again." She strode towards the stairs, apparently deciding that the second floor was where to start the search. Come to think of it, Draco realized that she was probably on to something.

"You're welcome to. I recommend that you start with the bedroom." Blaise had a sadistic sense of humour like that; steal Granger's painting and hide it in Draco's bedroom.

Misunderstanding Draco's willingness to help, Granger whirled on him and jabbed him with her wand. She was so angry that it was throwing off sparks that were hot enough to singe his shirt where she had it pressed over his heart.

"If this is some kind of sick game designed to get me into your bedroom, Malfoy, I'm going to make sure to shrink your penis so small that you won't be able to find it with a magnifying glass and a map."

"That's... worryingly thought out." Her glare sharpened. "But I assure you that I had nothing to do with this theft."

When she still didn't look convinced, he sighed, raised a hand in the air and said solemnly, "It's not a game; I swear on my genitals."

Watching him, Granger frowned, her eyebrows furrowing and her lips pursing as she tried to figure out the puzzle. What she thought she knew and the truth she could see he was telling were probably warring in that large mind of hers.

"I almost believe you," she finally said. The woman seemed to say that a lot in his presence. It was a shame she couldn't seem to be rid of the "almost."

Draco led the way to his bedroom and, after a minute of surveying the seemingly undisturbed space, kneeled down beside the bed and peeked under it. While Blaise was really good at finding and stealing things, he wasn't the best at hiding them. Granger's painting was there, resting unharmed against the hardwood.

Pulling it out, Draco handed it to her. "There you go. Have a good night, Granger."

She accepted it suspiciously and then watched him in confusion, hugging the small painting to her chest all the while. Did she think he was going to take it from her?

"What now?" he groaned.

"Why steal my painting, nearly get your head hexed off, then just give it back to me and send me on my way?"

"I'm a mystery even to me."

He could try telling her the truth again, but Draco just didn't feel like wasting his breath. Besides, he was going to have to go out and fix the damage once she left. So far, she hadn't wrecked anything in his bedroom, adding more work to his lengthening list of repairs that needed to be done before he could go to bed just wasn't appealing to him. If he opened his mouth though, there was a good chance that his list of repairs would only lengthen.

Granger was giving him an expression that said if there was a book on him, she would have read it just to figure him out. "None of this makes sense unless you're not really the Fox." The furrow between her brows deepened. "You're not the Fox, but you know him. I wouldn't be surprised if you lent him your skills with protection spells from time to time."

"I've been telling you I'm not the Fox all along." He wasn't even going to touch her suspicion about him helping Blaise. As long as Granger didn't have any proof, she wasn't going to turn him in.

"Yes, but no I'm starting to believe you might have been telling the truth."

"Glad we're finally on the same page." Draco was a little tempted to see if she would be willing to explore whatever was developing between them, but he wasn't about to be turned down a third time. "Now if you don't mind, I have a lot of damage to repair before I go to bed and I'd like to get started."

Sighing, Granger sat her painting on top of his bureau. "I'm the one who caused all the damage. The least I can do is stay to help fix it."

* * *

Repairing charms, while highly effective on small tears and holes, just wasn't sufficient for melted walls. Those took much more time, magic, and skill. Draco and Granger had skill in spades, but not even they could do such a large job quickly.

It was almost four in the morning by the time they finished, all of the damage Granger had caused in her rage completely repaired. While going as far as to say the Manor looked good as new would be a bit of an exaggeration, the repaired portions of the wall were certainly passable.

Draco looked at Granger, her usually robust hair hanging limp and her eyes drooping. They were both exhausted.

"I'd thank you for the help, but it feels wrong since you were the one to cause the damage."

"Don't worry, Malfoy, I didn't expect any gratitude from you."

"I'm glad. I'd hate to for you to get your hopes up only to be disappointed."

He walked with her to the main door, both of them pausing and standing there staring into each other's eyes a little too long. For a fraction of a second, Draco entertained the thought of kissing her, but then he shoved it away. He wasn't going to give her another opening to dent his pride. Any more rejection and it might sustain permanent damage.

"Goodbye, Granger," he said, opening the door for her. She blinked, probably surprised that he hadn't tried something, maybe even a touch disappointed.

He was prepared to turn and leave her there when she spoke.

"Malfoy?"

"Yes?"

"I forgot my painting in your bedroom."

Of course. Draco was just going to be given temptation after temptation until he couldn't resist going after Granger. The universe was against him. He was too tired to stifle the audible sigh that escaped him.

Wait, maybe he could cheat!

"You run up and get it; I need to grab something before bed."

His plan was to wait in the shadows until she came back down the stairs, thereby bypassing an uncomfortable confrontation in his room. It was unimaginative and juvenile, but he was tired, and it was the best he could do.

Unfortunately, Granger ruined his plan when she didn't come back down the stairs. He'd been to the kitchen, fetched a glass of water and then paced at the bottom of the stairs until he was bored and completely out of excuses. Still no sign of Granger.

Draco stalked up the stairs, mentally venting the entire way. If he found her asleep in his bed, he wasn't going to be held responsible for his actions.

"Granger, what's taking you so long to find your paint- you're naked."

Standing in the middle of his bedroom without a stitch on her, Granger didn't seem the least ashamed or embarrassed. She kept her arms at her sides, not trying to shield herself at all. He looked her up and down, all the while staying on the alert for an attack. This had to be some kind of trick.

"I am."

He tried to meet her eyes, really he did, but he's spent so long picturing her like this that he wanted to see if the reality lived up to his fantasies. It did; surpassed them, even.

"I hate to ask this and risk you getting dressed once more, but _why_?"

"I have a question first."

That had him meeting her eyes. "You took you clothes off to ask me a question?"

"No! I took my clothes off so we could have sex. I just have a question first."

Draco was tired, exhausted even, and his brain didn't exactly have the blood flow it needed to properly function when Granger was standing in front of him naked.

"Okay, what's this question?" If she kept her clothes off, he was willing to answer all the questions she wanted.

"Were you trying to sleep with me to distract me from my hunt for the Fox?"

At first, he was surprised. She hadn't been able to tell that he was genuine in his attentions?

Draco shook his head and reminded himself that Granger was a logical being, willing to ignore her gut feelings in favour of hard evidence. Without proof of his innocence and motives for his attentions, she couldn't possibly be with him.

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Besides, after the stunt with your painting today, I'm not entirely sure the Fox deserves to be free."

She nodded, accepting his answer. Up until that point, they'd been remarkably free of awkwardness considering one of them was completely naked and the other was fully clothed. Granger seemed to be waiting for something though, and the discomfort descended into the silence left by her waiting.

"Is this where I'm supposed to launch myself at you now that you're finally going to allow it?"

Granger said nothing, but her eyes darted down to the carpet and her cheeks darkened. That really had been her plan.

"What makes you think I'm just going to just drop my pants and pounce on you?"

"History? You've taken advantage of less blatant opportunities to touch me in the past." Her eyes wandered down him, stopping just south of his belt buckle. "And your... body language betrays your interest."

"I'm not doing this again, Granger. If you want something to happen here, you're going to have to make the first move."

While Granger was perfectly confident standing starkers in the middle of his bedroom, she didn't look comfortable at all with his suggestion that she was going to have to do a little more than that if she wanted to seduce him.

Draco chose not to tell her that, if she stood there long enough, he'd probably give in to temptation and pounce on her just like she'd anticipated. It would completely ruin the point he was trying to make.

Thankfully, Granger pulled herself together before he had to do something. She took a hesitant step towards him, her eyes straight ahead, resting somewhere near his chin. For someone normally so forceful, Granger was oddly hesitant at initiating anything sexually. Did she expect him to bite? If he did, she'd probably enjoy it.

"Granger, if you're scared of me, I really don't think this is going to be enjoyable for either of us."

Ah, there it was. Her eyes finally met his, and they were filled with fire. He'd probably pay for that statement.

He was looking forward to it.

"You're wearing too much clothing," she said, pointing her wand at him. The tip was glowing.

Despite knowing that she probably wasn't going to hurt him, Draco flinched just the tiniest little bit, making her grin widen. Suddenly the tentative Granger was long gone and the woman in her place was someone completely in control.

"I'm not the one who's scared, Malfoy."

"To be fair, you're pointing your wand at me after using it to melt the walls while trying to remove my head not so long ago."

She ignored him, running the tip of her wand down the front of his shirt. Whatever spell she was using left a hole burned down the front of his shirt, separating it into halves.

Draco stayed still while she stuck her wand between her teeth, freeing her hands so that she could run them along his shoulders, pushing his torn shirt off as she dragged her hands down to his.

When her wand was back in her hand and moving toward his pants, Draco grabbed her wrist. "Careful there, Granger. One little slip and our night ends with an unfortunate accident."

Granger knelt down in front of him to better keep an eye on what she was doing. He tried to relax, but every muscle in Draco's body was tensed as he braced for a burn. While he trusted her, Draco didn't think any man would be comfortable with someone burning off clothing right over his favourite bit, especially while said bit was doing everything it could to be noticed.

"You're the one who wanted me to take the initiative." She pressed her wand to Draco's stomach, just above the button of his trousers. Expecting to be burned, he jumped back, only then realizing that her wand had only felt warm, but not unpleasantly so.

Granger, still kneeling, was laughing at him. "It burns fabric, not skin."

"Not funny."

The whole incident seemed to have relaxed Granger considerably. She threw her wand to the side and pushed Draco's shoulders. His flight had brought him up against his bed, so the little shove had him falling onto his back.

From there, Draco watched while she unbuttoned his trousers and pulled them off. When she reached for the band of his underwear, he stopped her.

"I swear to Merlin, if you try to let me down easy or disappear in the morning, I'm not going to be pleased with you – and you want to stay in my good graces. I know people."

"People who can break through the protection wards on my home and steal something from my bedroom undetected?"

"Exactly."

"Fine. Now can I continue or do you have more to say?"

He thought about saying something else, just to annoy her a little, but Granger read his intent and placed a hand on the front of his underwear. His words came out as a hiss and Draco reluctantly gave her that round.

Soon, Granger had him too distracted to continue keeping score.

* * *

Draco woke up with Granger wrapped around him wearing only one of his shirts and her panties. She'd insisted that they both get dressed again the previous night, worried that, for some strange reason, one of his parents might come into his room and catch them naked.

He hadn't been pleased at the time, but as he watched Blaise picking through a breakfast meant for him, while reading the paper, Draco was thankful for Granger's concern.

"You're in so much trouble, Zabini," he growled.

Blaise just grinned and popped a slice of apple in his mouth. "Don't worry, mate. I had the House Elves bring up a spare chair and some extra food. There's enough for everyone." He ruffled the paper loudly as he turned the page. "Have you read this yet? It seems it was a Healer intern that stole the potions from the hospital. They caught him when he tried to steal more potions. Somehow he got himself trapped in there."

Draco was sure that was exactly what had happened. Of course, this was probably after Blaise had lured and then trapped the man in there.

"For some reason, he was shaking and terrified," Blaise continued, not the slightest bit of guilt on his face. "He was sure that the Fox was going to get him for some reason. I have no idea why."

Keeping his voice low so he didn't disturb the woman on his chest, Draco growled at his friend. "This habit of yours is disturbing enough when it's just the two of us, but I have company."

"I know. I would have thought you'd be in a better mood after finally having sex. Was it no good?"

"We are not discussing this! Get the hell out of my room!" he hissed with great vehemence. Granger stirred a little, but didn't open her eyes.

"If I thought you meant that, my feelings might be hurt."

"You two have the strangest relationship," Granger said, her eyes still closed and her voice heavy with sleep.

Draco had been hoping to sleep late after the long, exhausting night they'd had. Granger, it seemed, had other ideas. She untangled herself from his arms and joined Blaise at the breakfast table.

"Zabini, I have a few follow-up questions for you on the Fox case."

"Is this official Ministry business?" Blaise asked, completely unworried. "If so, I think you should probably leave it out of the report that you're not wearing trousers."

Knowing his friend's ability to incite wrath in even the most level-headed soul, Draco dragged himself from bed and took the remaining chair. He piled food on his plate as Granger started pelting Blaise with questions that the thief dodged skillfully.

Eventually, Granger was frustrated and Blaise was just getting started. "How about this, Granger, I'll answer one of your questions truthfully if you tell me all about last night. I want to know how it happened, everything. Draco's always stingy with details."

Draco aimed his wand at Blaise's chair under the cover of the table and watched as both Blaise and his chair went crashing to the floor, one of the chair legs blackened and bent at a strange angle. After what Blaise had done to Granger's painting, Draco felt absolutely no remorse as Blaise rolled around on the floor in pain.

"That wasn't necessary," Blaise groaned, getting to his feet and repairing his chair.

"You deserved it and you know it."

Granger had been watching the whole scene unfold. "Zabini, are you the Fox?" she asked, taking them both by surprise.

The smile Blaise directed towards her was dazzling. Lesser women – and men – had crumbled under its power. Granger though, she just continued looking at him, waiting for her answer.

"Don't be silly, Granger. I'm not the Fox." Blaise said it with such guilelessness that even Draco almost believed him for a moment.

Eyes narrowed, Granger didn't look convinced. "Since I'm not on the case anymore, I can't legally question you any further. However, I am going to advise the Auror in charge of the investigation about my suspicions."

"Don't worry, Granger. Were I the Fox – and I'm not admitting to anything – there wouldn't be any evidence." Blaise looked towards Draco, who was still glaring at him. "It's looking like I've worn out my welcome. I'll leave you two and your post-coital glow to your breakfast."

"There was no welcome for you to wear out!" Draco called after him as he fled the room.

"Zabini's the Fox and you help him get to the more heavily protected objects," Granger said, rounding on Draco.

"Blaise was right; the interrogation loses something when the interrogating Auror isn't wearing trousers."

"I'm going to find proof one day, Malfoy."

"Will we still sleep together in the meantime?"

"Yes."

"Then go ahead and try."

**The End.**


End file.
